Suni

Jan. 21 (UPI) — NASA astronaut Suni Williams retired from the agency after 27 years of service, including one nine-month stint when she was stranded on the International Space Station.

Williams has been “a trailblazer in human spaceflight, shaping the future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station and paving the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a statement.

“Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Isaacman said.

Williams has spent 608 days in space, the second-most of any NASA astronaut. She ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflight by an American, tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, both logging 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions.

Williams also completed nine spacewalks, totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space.

The Needham, Mass., native has a bachelor’s degree in physical science from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. She is a retired U.S. Navy captain and an accomplished helicopter and fixed-wing pilot. She’s logged more than 4,000 flight hours in 40 different aircraft.

“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s been an incredible honor to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times. I had an amazing 27-year career at NASA, and that is mainly because of all the wonderful love and support I’ve received from my colleagues.”

Williams launched for the first time aboard space shuttle Discovery in December 2006 and returned aboard space shuttle Atlantis. She served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 14/15 and completed a then-record-breaking four spacewalks during the mission.

“From her indelible contributions and achievements to the space station, to her groundbreaking test flight role during the Boeing Starliner mission, her exceptional dedication to the mission will inspire the future generations of explorers,” Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.

Williams served as a NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations crew member, spending nine days living and working in an underwater habitat. After her first flight, she served as deputy chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office. She was the director of operations in Star City, Russia, after her second mission to the space station. She recently helped establish a helicopter training platform to prepare astronauts for moon landings.

Wilmore, who was stranded on the ISS along with Williams, retired in August.