Sunita Williams has decided to end her career as an astronaut after spending 608 days in space.
According to NBC News, NASA on Tuesday, January 20, announced that their astronaut known for her extended nine-month space visit has retired after 27 years.
The former Navy pilot who joined NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1988 ended her career on December 27, 2025.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated, “Suni 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.”
During her nearly three-decade career, she went on three missions to the International Space Station and spent 608 days in space, the second-longest cumulative time in NASA’s history. She also holds the record for the most spacewalk time, 62 hours and 6 minutes, by any female astronaut and the fourth-most by any NASA astronaut.
Her longest stay in the space was when one-week planned space stay was extended from June 2014 till March 2025, when Starliner launched its first crewed flight.
Williams and Butch Wilmore were forced to stay at the space station after issues in the capsule. Considering the risk, NASA in September 2024 decided to return the capsule without astronauts.
After spending 286 days at the International Space Station, Williams and Willmore returned to earth in the SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18, 2025.
