Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds numerous human spaceflight records, including a remarkable 608 days spent in space, has retired after 27 years of service with the US space agency.
Her retirement took effect at the end of December, NASA said on Tuesday. At 60, she leaves behind an extraordinary legacy in space exploration.
Williams was one of the two astronauts who were recently stranded for months aboard the International Space Station. Their mission, which was initially slated to last just a week, stretched to over nine months due to technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft. The duo eventually returned to Earth last March aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
Her crewmate on the ill-fated Starliner test flight, astronaut Butch Wilmore, retired from NASA last summer.
#WATCH | Delhi: Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams says, "One of the first things you do when you get to space is that we all want to look for our home, like our immediate home. I grew up in Massachusetts. My father's from India. My mother's from Slovenia. I'm obviously… pic.twitter.com/Cpywcngc7x
— ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2026
"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," NASA said in a statement.
"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," it said.
Williams' space career includes 608 days spent in space over three separate station missions—placing her second on the list of NASA astronauts for cumulative time in space. She also holds the record for the most spacewalking hours by a woman, having spent 62 hours across nine spacewalks. Notably, she became the first person to run a marathon in space.
