Veteran NASA astronaut Suni Williams retires after 27 years of service
NASA's astronaut Suni Williams has officially retired, marking the Boeing Starliner test flight her final mission in space.
The news was confirmed by NASA, as Williams ended her outshining career of 27-years with the agency.
A glimpse into Suni Williams journey with NASA
Williams joined NASA in 1998 and flew to space three times.
She went on first flight in 2006 to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Space Shuttle Discovery and returned again in 2012 on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
In 2024, she traveled to the ISS on a mission along with fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore launched on Boeing’s first crewed Starliner test flight.
The mission was originally planned for one week but due to some technical difficulties with the Starliner spacecraft, they got stuck in space for over nine months.
Though the capsule returned back to Earth without a crew due to some safety concerns, while Wilmore and Williams safely landed home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in March 2025.
To mark the end of her journey with NASA, Williams released a statement, which read, “I had an amazing 27-year career at NASA, and that is mainly because of all the wonderful love and support I’ve received from my colleagues,”
“The International Space Station, the people, the engineering, and the science are truly awe-inspiring and have made the next steps of exploration to the Moon and Mars possible. I hope the foundation we set has made these bold steps a little easier,” Williams added.
Furthermore, she expressed gratitude towards her colleagues and hoped to work helps future missions to the Moon and Mars.
