A life beyond Earth: Celebrating Sunita Williams’ 27 years as Nasa's cosmonaut - see pics

After nearly three decades in space exploration, Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams retired, effective December 27, 2025, bringing down the curtain on a 27-year career that reshaped human spaceflight and inspired a generation of astronauts worldwide.

Born in Euclid, Ohio, to an Indian-Slovenian family, Williams grew up in Massachusetts, later graduating from the US Naval Academy and Florida Institute of Technology before embarking on a distinguished career in naval aviation and space exploration.

Williams was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 1998 and underwent intensive training, preparing her for missions aboard the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, while also contributing to robotics, mission planning, and international collaboration.

She first flew into space in December 2006 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, serving as a flight engineer on Expeditions 14 and 15 and setting a then-record for women by completing four spacewalks during a single mission.

In 2012, Williams returned to space aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, spending 127 days on the ISS and becoming commander of Expedition 33, overseeing scientific research and critical repair work on the orbiting laboratory.

Across three missions, Williams logged 608 days in space, completed nine spacewalks totalling over 62 hours, and became the woman with the most cumulative spacewalking time, ranking fourth on Nasa’s all-time list.

Alongside her missions, Williams held key leadership roles at Nasa, worked with the Russian space agency, trained astronauts underwater during NEEMO missions, and helped develop helicopter training programmes for future Moon landings.

In June 2024, Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner for its first crewed test flight, marking a crucial step in Nasa’s commercial crew programme and once again placing her at the forefront of spaceflight innovation.

Technical issues with Starliner turned what was meant to be a short mission into a nine-month stay aboard the ISS, as Williams continued station operations and later commanded Expedition 72 during the prolonged mission.

Williams finally returned to Earth in March 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, safely concluding one of the longest unplanned space stays by a Nasa astronaut and demonstrating resilience under extraordinary circumstances.

As she stepped away from Nasa, Sunita Williams left behind a legacy of leadership, endurance and scientific contribution, with achievements that continue to shape missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.