Veteran NASA astronaut Sunny Williams announced her retirement Tuesday, officially marking her final flight to orbit as a member of the astronauts during an unusually long test flight of the Boeing Starliner.
Williams, who has set several spaceflight records since joining the agency in 1998, did not provide a timeline for his retirement in a statement released by the space agency on Tuesday.
“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my favorite place,” Williams said. “It’s an incredible honor to work in the astronaut department and have the opportunity to fly into space three times.”
Williams first traveled to the International Space Station in 2006 aboard the space shuttle Discovery and returned to orbit in 2012 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.
But her most recent mission, during which she and NASA astronaut Butch Willmore flew their first operational mission to test Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, was perhaps her most famous.
Wilmore and Williams expected to spend about a week in space during the test flight. But they ended up being delayed by more than nine months due to technical problems en route with the Starliner, which NASA decided to bring home empty for safety reasons.
Sonny Williams exits the Crew Dragon capsule after he, Butch Willmore and two other astronauts landed on the coast of Florida after returning from the International Space Station in March 2025. – NASA TV/Reuters
Williams and Wilmore have drawn international attention to their experiences, although both astronauts have repeatedly insisted that they spent time in orbit and were well prepared for their unexpectedly long stay.
“I’ve had an incredible 27-year career at NASA, thanks in large part to all the incredible love and support I’ve received from my colleagues,” Williams said in a statement. “The International Space Station, the people, the engineering and the science are truly amazing and have made the next steps in lunar and Mars exploration possible. I hope the foundation we’ve built will make those bold steps a little easier.”
The star of the recording
Williams spent 608 days in space, second only to Peggy Whitson for a NASA astronaut.
She also achieved 62 hours of free flight in space during nine different spacewalks, making her the highest-ranking woman in the category and fourth in the world.
Williams also achieved several notable successes during his time in orbit: in 2012, for example, he became the first person to complete a triathlon in space. Williams used a bicycle, swam with a weight machine and ran on a treadmill attached to a bell to keep from passing out. (Previously, in 2007, Williams was also the first person to run a marathon in space.)
“Throughout Sunny’s impressive career, she has been a trailblazer,” said Vanessa Veitch, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “From his incredible contributions and achievements aboard the space station to his role in the first test flight of the Boeing Starliner mission, his extraordinary dedication to this mission will continue to inspire the next generation of explorers.”
Join Wilmore as he retires
Williams’ departure from the astronaut squad comes months after he and Willmore returned from the space station, completing a test flight mission.
Willmore and Williams left NASA following Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, the two astronauts who launched the first test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule in 2020. This mission, which did not cause serious delays or technical problems, was the last and last for Gernarty.
Usually, astronauts who have been with the agency for many years announce their retirement after returning from a major milestone, such as testing a new spacecraft.
It is not yet clear when the Starliner capsule will fly again. NASA has announced that it plans to fly its next spacecraft mission without crew members, preferring to treat the mission as another inactive test flight.
During Williams’ and Wilmore’s flights, the Starliner spacecraft experienced a launch vehicle shutdown and a gas leak, but both astronauts said they would fly the Starliner again if given the chance.
“The satellite is really capable,” Williams said at a post-launch press conference last year. “There are some things that need to be fixed. People are actively working on it. But it’s a great spacecraft and it has capabilities that other spacecraft don’t have, and it’s an honor to be a part of this program.”
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