Wednesday, 21 January, 2026
London, UK
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 4:40 AM
broken clouds 6.2°C
Condition: Broken clouds
Humidity: 88%
Wind Speed: 8.1 km/h

NASA astronaut who was stuck at the space station for months retires within a year of returning

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Suni Williams — one of two astronauts stuck for months at the International Space Station — has retired.

The space agency announced the news Tuesday, saying her retirement took effect at the end of December.

Williams’ crewmate on Boeing’s ill-fated capsule test flight, Butch Wilmore, left NASA last summer.

The pair launched to the space station in 2024, the first people to fly Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule. Their mission should have lasted just a week, but stretched to more than nine months because of Starliner trouble. In the end, they caught a ride home last March with SpaceX.

Boeing’s next Starliner mission will carry cargo — not people — to the space station. NASA wants to make sure all of the capsule’s thruster and other issues are solved before putting anyone on board. The trial run will take place later this year.

Williams, 60, a former Navy captain, spent more than 27 years at NASA, logging 608 days in space over three station missions. She also set a record for the most spacewalking time by a woman: 62 hours during nine excursions.

NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman called her “a trailblazer in human spaceflight.”

“Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement,” he added in a statement.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

Categories

Follow

    Newsletter

    Subscribe to receive your complimentary login credentials and unlock full access to all features and stories from Lord’s Press.

    As a journal of record, Lord’s Press remains freely accessible—thanks to the enduring support of our distinguished partners and patrons. Subscribing ensures uninterrupted access to our archives, special reports, and exclusive notices.

    LP is free thanks to our Sponsors

    Privacy Overview

    Privacy & Cookie Notice

    This website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to help us understand how our content is accessed and used. Cookies are small text files stored in your browser that allow us to recognise your device upon return, retain your preferences, and gather anonymised usage statistics to improve site performance.

    Under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we process this data based on your consent. You will be prompted to accept or customise your cookie preferences when you first visit our site.

    You may adjust or withdraw your consent at any time via the cookie settings link in the website footer. For more information on how we handle your data, please refer to our full Privacy Policy