Longtime NASA astronaut Suni Williams announced her retirement Tuesday — officially making the unexpectedly long Boeing Starliner test flight her final foray to orbit as a member of the astronaut corps.Williams, who has set multiple spaceflight records since joining the agency in 1998, did not give insight into the timing of her retirement in a statement issued by the space agency on Tuesday.“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be,” Williams said. “It’s been an incredible honor to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWilliams first traveled to the International Space Station in 2006 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery and returned to orbit in a Russian Soyuz capsule in 2012.But her latest mission, in which she and fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore set out to test fly Boeing’s new Starliner capsule on its first crewed mission, was perhaps her most well-known.Wilmore and Williams had expected to spend about a week on the space station during the test flight. But the duo ultimately stayed more than nine months because of technical issues that cropped up en route with the Starliner vehicle — which NASA opted to fly home empty due to safety concerns.Suni Williams exits the Crew Dragon capsule after she and Butch Wilmore, and two other astronauts, splashed down off Florida’s coast following a return from the International Space Station in March 2025. – NASA TV/ReutersWilliams and Wilmore garnered international attention for their experience, though both astronauts reiterated frequently that they enjoyed their time in orbit and were well-prep …
