NASA astronaut Suni Williams has officially retired, with the agency confirming her retirement took effect at the close of December. Over her extensive career, Williams accumulated notable achievements in spaceflight, including spending a total of 608 days in orbit and conducting a record number of spacewalks for a woman.
Williams, age 60 and a former captain in the U.S. Navy, was among the first crew members to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule in 2024. This mission, intended initially to last about a week, extended over nine months due to technical issues encountered with the spacecraft. Williams and her fellow astronaut, Butch Wilmore, who retired from NASA in the previous summer, launched to the International Space Station (ISS) and ended up having an unusually prolonged mission as a result.
The two astronauts ultimately returned to Earth in March aboard a SpaceX vehicle, highlighting NASA’s reliance on multiple commercial partners for crewed spaceflight operations amid challenges.
Looking ahead, Boeing’s upcoming Starliner mission is scheduled to transport cargo rather than astronauts to the ISS. This decision is intended to address and resolve the technical complications observed previously, including thruster malfunctions, before resuming crewed flights. This uncrewed mission is anticipated later this year as an important step in ensuring safety and reliability.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman publicly recognized Williams for her pioneering contributions to space travel, describing her as a trailblazer within human spaceflight. Her distinguished career includes nine spacewalks accumulating 62 hours, setting a benchmark for female astronauts.
Williams' retirement concludes a remarkable tenure at NASA that spanned more than 27 years. Throughout this period, she has been a prominent figure in numerous space station expeditions and has helped advance the United States’ presence in low Earth orbit.