NASA astronaut Suni Williams, who spent over nine months on the International Space Station due to technical malfunctions of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, has officially retired. The space agency announced that her resignation took effect at the end of December. Her colleague on the test flight, Butch Wilmore, left NASA last summer. This is reported by UNN.
Details
Williams, 60, a former Navy captain, dedicated over 27 years to NASA. During this time, she completed three missions, spending a total of 608 days in space. She also set a world record among women for the longest duration of spacewalks, totaling 62 hours over nine excursions.
Williams' last mission in 2024 was supposed to last only a week, but due to critical problems with the Starliner capsule's engines, her stay in orbit was prolonged. Eventually, the astronauts returned to Earth only last March on a SpaceX company spacecraft. New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called Williams "a pioneer in human spaceflight" and congratulated her on her well-deserved retirement.
Future of the Boeing Starliner program
After the incident with the crew of Williams and Wilmore, NASA revised its plans for operating Boeing-made spacecraft. The next Starliner mission, scheduled for late 2026, will be purely cargo. The agency aims to ensure that all technical shortcomings of the engines and control systems are completely eliminated before again allowing crewed flights on this type of vessel.