Sunita Williams, an astronaut with NASA for many years, announced her official retirement on Tuesday, with the recent Boeing Starliner test flight being an unexpected capstone on her time in the astronaut corps.
Since her joining the space agency in 1998, Williams established several records regarding human spaceflights.
William reminisces her career
In a statement, Williams looked back at all the love and support she garnered over her career spanning 27 years and said, "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.
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"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, she added.
She called space her absolute favourite place and stated, "Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be. It's been an incredible honour to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times."
"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," Sunita Williams said.
'Pioneer in human spaceflight'
"Suni Williams has been a pioneer in human spaceflight. She has shaped the future of exploration through her leadership on the space station and has opened doors for commercial missions to low Earth orbit," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
"Her efforts to improve science and technology have built the groundwork for the Artemis missions to the Moon and our journey toward Mars. Her amazing achievements will keep inspiring generations to dream big and challenge the limits of what we can achieve. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement, and thank you for your service to NASA and our nation," Isaacman added.
Logged 608 days in space
Throughout her three missions, she has spent 608 days floating through the thick, black void of outer space, which is second on the list of cumulative time in space by a NASA astronaut. Williams ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflights by an American. She is tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, as both logged 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions.
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First to run marathon in space
Williams also completed nine spacewalks, which lasted 62 hours and 6 minutes. This makes her the woman with the most time spent on spacewalks and ranks her fourth in the all-time list for cumulative spacewalk duration. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space.
"Over the course of Suni's impressive career trajectory, she has been a pioneering leader," said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
"From her indelible contributions and achievements to the space station, to her groundbreaking test flight role during the Boeing Starliner mission, her exceptional dedication to the mission will inspire the future generations of explorers," added Wyche.
