Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has retired from NASA after a 27-year career, bringing to a close one of the most notable journeys in human spaceflight.
Her retirement came into effect at the end of December, NASA confirmed on January 20.
Williams, 60, steps away from the space agency months after a mission that was originally planned to last just a week extended into a stay of more than nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The unexpected extension followed technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which left Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore stranded on the station far longer than scheduled. The two eventually returned to Earth in March aboard a SpaceX capsule.
Wilmore, who flew with Williams on the troubled test mission, had already exited NASA last year.
In a statement, NASA described Williams as “a trailblazer in human spaceflight”, citing her leadership aboard the space station and her contributions to advancing commercial missions in low Earth orbit. The agency said her work helped lay the groundwork for the Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon and eventually support missions to Mars.
Over the course of three ISS missions, Williams spent a total of 608 days in space, the second-highest cumulative time logged by a NASA astronaut. She also holds the record for the most spacewalking time by a woman, completing nine spacewalks totalling 62 hours outside the station.
Among her many milestones, Williams also became the first person to run a marathon in space, completing the full distance on a treadmill while orbiting Earth.
Her retirement marks the end of a career defined by long-duration missions, technical firsts and a lasting influence on NASA’s future exploration efforts.