NASA Astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams has retired after an illustrious 27-year career, effective December 27, 2025. The announcement came from NASA, praising her as a trailblazer who shaped human spaceflight and paved the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars. Williams, who recently completed a dramatically extended stay on the International Space Station (ISS), logged an impressive 608 days in space across three missions—ranking second among NASA astronauts for cumulative time in orbit.

Her record-breaking achievements include nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, the most by any female astronaut and fourth overall in NASA’s history. Williams also made history as the first person to run a marathon in space. Her final mission, intended as a short test flight aboard Boeing’s Starliner in 2024, stretched to over nine months due to technical issues, before she returned safely in March 2025 alongside Butch Wilmore via SpaceX Crew-9.

Born to a Gujarati father from Jhulasan, Gujarat, and a Slovenian mother, Williams has deep Indian roots. She recently visited India, where she participated in an interactive session at the American Center in Delhi. During the event, she shared heartfelt memories and received a warm welcome as a “homecoming.”

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In a touching moment, Williams met the 90-year-old mother and sister of the late Kalpana Chawla, the first woman of Indian origin in space who tragically perished in the 2003 Columbia disaster. The emotional embrace rekindled memories of support Williams provided to Chawla’s family after the loss, with Chawla’s mother describing her as “like family.” Williams is now set to speak at the Kerala Literature Festival, continuing to inspire the next generation.

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