NASA astronaut Suni Williams retires after extended space station stay

NASA astronaut Suni Williams has retired, the space agency announced Tuesday. Her retirement took effect at the end of December, about nine months after she returned to Earth from an unplanned extended stay at the International Space Station.

Williams and crewmate Butch Wilmore launched to the station in 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for what was supposed to be a week-long test flight. Problems with the capsule’s thrusters and other systems extended their mission to more than nine months. They returned last March aboard a SpaceX spacecraft instead.

Williams logged 608 days in space across three station missions during her more than 27-year NASA career, and she holds the record for the most spacewalking time by a woman—62 hours over nine excursions. Her retirement follows months of scrutiny over Boeing’s Starliner program, which NASA is continuing to address before resuming crewed flights.

Her Career at NASA

Williams’ retirement marks the end of a NASA career that spanned more than 27 years. She completed three separate missions to the International Space Station across her tenure with the agency.

At 60 years old and a former Navy captain, Williams logged 608 days in space across her three station missions. Her spacewalking record of 62 hours across nine excursions stood as the most by any woman in the astronaut corps at the time of her retirement.

The Starliner Setback

The extended stay that ultimately brought Williams home raised significant questions about Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which had been designed to carry astronauts to and from the station regularly. The thruster failures and other technical glitches that kept Williams and Wilmore in orbit for more than nine months represented a substantial setback for the program.

NASA said it wants to ensure all of the capsule’s issues are resolved before resuming human missions. Boeing’s next Starliner test will be an uncrewed cargo flight, scheduled for later this year, to verify the spacecraft’s readiness.

A Trailblazer’s Farewell

Jared Isaacman, NASA’s new administrator, released a statement honoring Williams upon learning of her retirement. “Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement,” Isaacman said, calling Williams “a trailblazer in human spaceflight.”

Wilmore, who had launched alongside Williams in 2024 and shared the extended mission experience, had already departed NASA last summer, marking the end of a remarkable shared spaceflight odyssey.