USA

Sunita Williams

(Sunita Lyn Williams)

(Sep 19, 1965)

Astronaut 451

Astronaut of the USA 284

Woman-astronaut 46

EVA astronaut 161

EVA astronaut of the USA 102

Spaceflights 3

EVAs 9

Spaceflights

EVAs

After 27 years of service, NASA astronaut Suni Williams has concluded her career with the agency; the decision took effect on December 27, 2025. Williams participated in three missions aboard the International Space Station, setting numerous human spaceflight records during her tenure.

Williams spent 608 days in space—the second-longest cumulative duration in space among NASA astronauts. She ranks sixth on the list of American astronauts for the longest continuous spaceflight (sharing the spot with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore): both spent 286 days in space during the NASA Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions. Additionally, Williams performed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes; this is a record for women and the fourth-highest total duration of spacewalking activity overall. She also became the first person to run a marathon in space.

Williams first traveled to space in December 2006 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-116 and returned to Earth on the Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-117. She served as a flight engineer during Expeditions 14 and 15 and performed four spacewalks, setting a record for the number of spacewalks at the time.

In 2012, Williams launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a 127-day mission as part of the crews for Expeditions 32 and 33. She also served as station commander during Expedition 33. During this mission, Williams conducted three spacewalks.

In June 2024, Williams and Wilmore launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. They joined the crews of Expeditions 71 and 72, with Williams once again assuming command of the station during Expedition 72. She performed two spacewalks and returned to Earth in March 2025 as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

In addition to her spaceflight experience, Williams held numerous other positions during her career at NASA. In 2002, she was a crew member for the NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations) mission, spending nine days in an underwater laboratory. Following her first flight, she served as Deputy Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office. Later, following her second mission to the space station, she headed the NASA operations branch in Star City, Russia. Most recently, she was involved in developing a helicopter-based astronaut training program designed to hone skills required for future lunar landings.

Suni Williams was born in 1965 in Needham, Massachusetts; she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, Florida). Williams is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and an experienced helicopter and fixed-wing pilot, having logged over 4,000 flight hours in 40 different types of aircraft.