Picture Credit : @Astro_Suni/X
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams retired from the agency after 27 years of service. The retirement was officially announced on January 20, 2026. Williams completed three missions aboard the International Space Station, setting numerous human spaceflight records throughout her career.
“Sunita 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,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. He further added, “Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and 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.”
True New England fall dinner on the #ISS – Lobstaaaa!!!! pic.twitter.com/3ASCecWE
— Sunita Williams (@Astro_Suni) September 9, 2012
Williams logged 608 days in space, second on the list of cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut. She ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflight by an American, tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, both logging 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions. Williams also completed nine spacewalks, totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. She also was the first person to run a marathon in space.
“Over the course of William’s impressive career trajectory, she has been a pioneering leader,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. “From her indelible contributions and achievements to the space station, to her ground breaking test flight role during the Boeing Starliner mission, her exceptional dedication to the mission will inspire the future generations of explorers.”
What kind of experiment is this???? Ultrasound of leg muscles for new exercise protocol. pic.twitter.com/cYa46AvY
— Sunita Williams (@Astro_Suni) August 20, 2012
Williams launched for the first time aboard space shuttle Discovery with STS-116 in December 2006 and returned aboard space shuttle Atlantis with the STS-117 crew. She served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 14/15 and completed a then-record-breaking four spacewalks during the mission.
In 2012, Williams launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a 127-day mission as a member of Expedition 32/33. She also served as space station commander for Expedition 33. Williams performed three spacewalks during the mission to repair a leak on a station radiator and replace a component that gets power from the station’s solar arrays to its systems.
Its nice to be boarding group 1! CST-100 crew access arm and white room (aka jetway to the capsule). pic.twitter.com/QJBER8si93
— Sunita Williams (@Astro_Suni) December 16, 2016
Most recently, Williams and Wilmore launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June 2024 as part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. She and Wilmore went on to join Expedition 71/72, and Williams again took command of the space station for Expedition 72. She completed two spacewalks on the mission and returned to Earth in March 2025, as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
Hoping next time we see Starliner in daylight on earth is after her stay on ISS and she lands in New Mexico! Go Atlas! Go Centaur! Go Starliner! pic.twitter.com/l3EOu6G1Mq
— Sunita Williams (@Astro_Suni) December 19, 2019
A retired U.S. Navy captain, Williams is an accomplished helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, having logged more than 4,000 flight hours in 40 different aircraft.
“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favourite place to be,” said Williams. “It’s been an incredible honour to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times. I had an amazing 27-year career at NASA, and that is mainly because of all the wonderful love and support I’ve received from my colleagues. The International Space Station, the people, the engineering, and the science are truly awe-inspiring and have made the next steps of exploration to the Moon and Mars possible. I hope the foundation we set has made these bold steps a little easier. I am super excited for NASA and its partner agencies as we take these next steps, and I can’t wait to watch the agency make history.” Swiftly, Sunita Williams too, has inked her name in history of space.
