Suni Williams has officially announced her retirement, bringing an end to her 27-year career at NASA and cementing her place in history as a modern-day legend. In her time as an astronaut, Williams spent 608 days in space, making her one of only two NASA astronauts to ever spend more than a cumulative 600 days in space. Her longest single stint lasted 286 days, tying Butch Wilmore for the sixth-longest spaceflight by an American.
In addition to three International Space Station missions, Williams notched nine spacewalks in her career, totaling 62 hours and six minutes, while earning her the distinction of spending more time spacewalking than any other woman and tying her for fourth place on NASA’s all-time list. She’s also the first person to have ever run a marathon in space. In a statement, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said:
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. Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, and thank you for your service to NASA and our nation.
Lost in space
Williams’ first spaceflight took place in December 2006 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, before returning on space shuttle Atlantis with the STS-117 crew, and she was a flight engineer for Expeditions 14/15. That was also when she completed four spacewalks, which set a new record at the time. But while she was no stranger to spending long periods of time in space and had completed a 127-day mission back in 2012, her most recent spaceflight will probably remain her most memorable.
In June 2024, Williams returned to the ISS with Wilmore aboard the SpaceX Starliner. Unfortunately for the two astronauts, what was supposed to be a relatively short trip ended up dragging on much longer than anticipated when problems with the Tesla of spaceships prevented them from returning to Earth as planned. While they did eventually make it back, further delays kept them trapped aboard the ISS for more than nine months. Unfortunately for both Williams and Wilmore, there isn’t much money in getting stuck in space, as they only received an extra $1,430 for their extended work trips.
Prior to joining NASA, Williams grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, before attending the United States Naval Academy, where she earned her bachelor’s in physical science. After graduating from the Naval Academy, she got her master’s in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology and went on to log more than 4,000 flight hours in at least 40 different helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. In a statement, Williams said:
Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be. It’s been an incredible honor to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times. 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. I am super excited for NASA and its partner agencies as we take these next steps, and I can’t wait to watch the agency make history.
