NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Retires After 27 Year Career

Veteran NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams has retired after a distinguished 27-year career marked by record-setting missions and leadership in human spaceflight. Her retirement from the U.S. space agency became effective on December 27, 2025, closing a remarkable chapter in space exploration history.

Key Highlights

• Veteran NASA astronaut Sunita Williams retires after 27 years of record-setting space missions.
• Williams leaves behind a legacy of leadership, spacewalk records, and ISS command roles.

Williams is among the most experienced astronauts in NASA’s history. Over the course of her career, she completed three missions to the International Space Station (ISS), logging a total of 608 days in space, the second-highest cumulative duration for a NASA astronaut.

A pioneer in extravehicular activity, Williams also set the record for the most spacewalking time by a woman, with 62 hours and six minutes spread across nine spacewalks, placing her fourth on NASA’s all-time list for cumulative EVA time.

Her spaceflight journey began in 2006 with a mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, and she later served as commander of Expedition 33 aboard the ISS — one of her most significant leadership roles. She also played a central role in NASA’s Boeing Starliner commercial crew flight test, joining Expedition 71 and 72 before returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew-9 spacecraft in March 2025.

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NASA officials praised Williams as a trailblazer who helped shape the future of space exploration and laid groundwork for upcoming programmes, including Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Her career not only highlighted technical excellence but also inspired future generations of explorers.