‘Trailblazer in Human Spaceflight’: Astronaut Sunita Williams Retires From NASA After 27 Years of Service

NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams officially retired on December 27, 2025, concluding a distinguished 27-year career that spanned the shuttle era, long-duration space station missions, and the dawn of commercial human spaceflight, the agency said in a statement.

“Suni Williams has been a trailblazer in human spaceflight, shaping the future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station and paving the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.

“Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and progress toward Mars. Her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, and thank you for your service to NASA and our nation,” he added.

A record-setting career in space

Over the course of her career, Williams spent a total of 608 days in space, the second-highest cumulative total for any NASA astronaut. She is also tied for the sixth-longest single spaceflight by an American, alongside astronaut Butch Wilmore, with both logging 286 consecutive days in orbit during missions associated with Boeing’s Starliner and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9.

Williams completed nine spacewalks, totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, giving her the most spacewalk time ever recorded by a woman and placing her fourth on NASA’s all-time cumulative spacewalk list. She also made history as the first person to run a marathon in space.

Her first space mission launched in December 2006 aboard space shuttle Discovery on STS-116. She returned to Earth with the STS-117 crew aboard Atlantis. During Expeditions 14 and 15 aboard the International Space Station, Williams served as a flight engineer and set a then-record by completing four spacewalks on a single mission.

In 2012, Williams launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a 127-day mission as part of Expeditions 32 and 33, later taking command of the station during Expedition 33. During that mission, she conducted three spacewalks to repair a critical radiator leak and replace a key power system component connected to the station’s solar arrays.

Her most recent spaceflight came in June 2024, when she and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner for NASA’s Crew Flight Test. The pair joined Expeditions 71 and 72, with Williams once again serving as commander of the International Space Station during Expedition 72. She completed two additional spacewalks before returning to Earth in March 2025 aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

With her retirement, Williams leaves behind a legacy defined by endurance, leadership, and historic firsts — and a career that bridged generations of human space exploration.