NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has retired after a 27-year tenure marked by record-setting missions, spacewalk milestones and key leadership roles. Her retirement became effective on 27 December 2025, the agency confirmed on Monday.
Williams, 60, completed three missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and spent a total of 608 days in space, the second-highest cumulative time by a NASA astronaut. She performed nine spacewalks over her career, accumulating 62 hours and six minutes—the highest by any woman and the fourth overall.
“Suni Williams has been a trailblazer in human spaceflight,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, crediting her for advancing technologies critical to the Artemis programme and future Mars missions.
Williams launched aboard space shuttle Discovery in 2006 for her first spaceflight. She returned on Atlantis in 2007, completing four spacewalks during Expeditions 14/15. In 2012, she flew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for Expedition 32/33, serving as space station commander and conducting three more spacewalks.
Her final mission came in June 2024, when she flew aboard NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, later joining Expeditions 71/72 and assuming command of the ISS for a second time. She returned to Earth in March 2025 with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
A native of Needham, Massachusetts, Williams is a retired US Navy captain and test pilot with over 4,000 flight hours. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space. At NASA, she held senior roles including deputy chief of the Astronaut Office and director of operations in Star City, Russia.
In a statement, she said, “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 hope the foundation we set has made these bold steps a little easier.”