Astronaut Sunita Williams announces her retirement from NASA

Sunita Williams has retired from NASA. The official announcement was made yesterday confirming that her retirement took effect on 27 December 2025. She concludes a legendary 27-year career with the space agency, during which she became one of the most experienced astronauts in history.

Sunita logged a cumulative 608 days in orbit across three missions, the second-highest total for any NASA astronaut. The Indian-origin super woman completed nine spacewalks, totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes, which remains the record for the most spacewalking time by a woman.

Her final flight was the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test, which launched in June 2024. Due to technical issues with the spacecraft, her planned eight-day mission was extended to nine months. She eventually returned to Earth in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Before joining NASA in 1998, she served as a captain in the United States Navy, logging over 4,000 flight hours in more than 40 different types of aircraft.

Her future plans

The 60-year-old retired astronaut is currently in India on a personal visit, where she has been participating in interactive sessions and inspiring students in New Delhi. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described her as a trailblazer whose work has laid the vital foundation for future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.

In her retirement statement, she expressed a desire to continue supporting the space programme by training future astronauts for Artemis missions to the Moon and Mars. Before her departure, she helped establish a specialised helicopter training platform at NASA to prepare future crews for the unique challenges of lunar landings.

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