Williams was commissioned an ensign in theU.S. Navy in May 1987. After a six-month temporary assignment at the Naval Coastal System Command, she was designated a Basic Diving Officer. She next reported to theNaval Air Training Command, where she was designated aNaval Aviator in July 1989. She received initialH-46 Sea Knight training in Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 (HC-3), and was then assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 (HC-8) inNorfolk, Virginia, with which she made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf forOperation Desert Shield andOperation Provide Comfort. In September 1992, she was the officer-in-charge of an H-46 detachment sent toMiami, Florida, forHurricane Andrew relief operations aboardUSS Sylvania. In January 1993, Williams began training at theU.S. Naval Test Pilot School. She graduated in December, and was assigned to the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H-46 Project Officer andV-22 chase pilot in theT-2. Later, she was assigned as the squadron Safety Officer and flew test flights in theSH-60B/F,UH-1,AH-1W,SH-2,VH-3, H-46,CH-53, andH-57.[6]
In December 1995, she went back to the Naval Test Pilot School as an instructor in the Rotary Wing Department and as the school's Safety Officer. There she flew theUH-60,OH-6, and theOH-58. She was then assigned toUSS Saipan as theAircraft Handler and the Assistant Air Boss. Williams was deployed onSaipan in June 1998 when she was selected byNASA for the astronaut program.[6] She has logged more than 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types.[7] Williams retired from the Navy as a Captain in 2017.[8]
Career in NASA
Williams began her astronaut candidate training at theJohnson Space Center in August 1998.[6]
STS-116
Astronaut Sunita L. Williams, STS-116 mission specialist, participates in the mission's third planned session ofextravehicular activity (EVA)
Williams was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) withSTS-116, aboard Space ShuttleDiscovery, on December 9, 2006, to join theExpedition 14 crew. In April 2007, the Russian members of the crew rotated, changing toExpedition 15.
Expeditions 14 and 15
Williams became the first person to run amarathon from the space station on April 16, 2007
After launch, Williams arranged to donate herponytail toLocks of Love. Fellow astronautJoan Higginbotham cut her hair aboard the International Space Station and it was brought back to Earth by theSTS-116 crew.[9] Williams performed her firstextra-vehicular activity on the eighth day of the STS-116 mission. On January 31, February 4, and February 9, 2007, she completed three spacewalks from the ISS withMichael López-Alegría. During one of these walks, a camera became untethered, probably because the attaching device failed, and floated off to space before Williams could react.[10]
On the third spacewalk, Williams was outside the station for 6 hours and 40 minutes to complete three spacewalks in nine days. By 2007, she had logged 29 hours and 17 minutes in four spacewalks, eclipsing the record previously held byKathryn C. Thornton for most spacewalk time by a woman.[6][11] On December 18, 2007, during the fourthspacewalk ofExpedition 16,Peggy Whitson surpassed Williams, with a cumulative EVA time of 32 hours, 36 minutes.[12][13] In early March 2007, she received a tube ofwasabi in aProgress spacecraft resupply mission in response to her request for more spicy food. When she opened the tube, which was packed at one atmospheric pressure, the paste was forced out in the lower pressure of the ISS. In the free-fall environment, the spicy geyser was difficult to contain.[14]
On April 26, 2007, NASA decided to bring Williams back to Earth on theSTS-117 mission aboardAtlantis. Although she did not break the U.S. single spaceflight record—recently set by López-Alegría—she did break the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman.[6][15][16] Williams served as a mission specialist and returned to Earth on June 22, 2007, at the end of the STS-117 mission. Poor weather at theKennedy Space Center inCape Canaveral forced mission managers to skip three landing attempts there over 24 hours. They ultimately divertedAtlantis toEdwards Air Force Base in California, where the shuttle touched down at 3:49 p.m.EDT, returning Williams home after a 192-day stay in space.
Marathon in space
On April 16, 2007, she ran the first marathon by any person in space.[17][18] Williams was listed as an entrant for the 2007Boston Marathon, and completed the distance in 4 hours and 24 minutes.[19][20][21] During the race, the other crew members cheered her on and tossed oranges to her.[22] Williams's sister, Dina Pandya and fellow astronautKaren L. Nyberg ran the marathon on Earth, and Williams received updates on their progress from Mission Control.[23] In 2008, Williams participated in the Boston Marathon again.[24]
Expeditions 32 and 33
Williams exercises onCOLBERT during ISS Expedition 32Williams appears to touch the bright Sun during a spacewalk conducted on September 5, 2012.
Williams was launched from theBaikonur Cosmodrome on July 15, 2012, as part ofExpedition 32/33. Her Russian spacecraftSoyuz TMA-05M docked with the ISS for a four-month stay at the orbiting outpost on July 17, 2012.[25] The docking of the Soyuz spacecraft occurred at 4:51 GMT as the ISS flew over Kazakhstan at an altitude of 252 miles. The hatchway between the Soyuz spacecraft and the ISS was opened at 7:23 GMT and Williams floated into the ISS to begin her duties as a member of the Expedition 32 crew. On the Soyuz spacecraft, she was accompanied byJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronautAkihiko Hoshide and RussiancosmonautYuri Malenchenko. Williams served as the commander of the ISS during her stay onboard ISS Expedition 33, succeedingGennady Padalka.[26] She became the commander of theInternational Space Station on September 17, 2012, being only the second woman to achieve the feat.[27] Also in September 2012, she became the first person to do a triathlon in space, which coincided with the Nautica Malibu Triathlon held in Southern California.[28] She used theInternational Space Station's own treadmill and stationary bike, and for the swimming portion of the race, she used the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) to do weightlifting and resistance exercises that approximate swimming in microgravity. After swimming half a mile (0.8 km), biking 18 miles (29 km), and running 4 miles (6.4 km), Williams finished with a self-reported time of one hour, 48 minutes and 33 seconds.[28]
She returned to Earth with fellow astronautsYuri Malenchenko andAkihiko Hoshide on November 19, 2012. A procedural delay led the capsule to land in the town ofArkalyk, Kazakhstan, some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the planned touchdown site.[29]
The June 5, 2024, launch of Starliner made Williams, its pilot, the first woman to fly on a flight test of an orbital spacecraft.[34] The mission was scheduled to last eight days, but problems with the Boeing's Starliner service module led NASA to leave Williams and Wilmore aboard the ISS for more than nine months. On 18 March 2025 both returned onSpaceX Crew-9[35] (Crew 9 was launched in September 2024, with two vacant seats to accommodate Williams and Wilmore's return). Before the mission, Williams was not among the top 50 astronauts as measured by time in space. On August 24, 2024, she became among the top 30 and is expected to be among the top 12 in time-in-space duration when she returns in 2025.[36]
In September 2024, Williams took command of theISS for the second time in her career. Williams handed over command of the space station to Roscosmos cosmonautAleksey Ovchinin during a ceremony on March 7, 2025.[37]
Boeing Starliner incident and return to Earth
NASA astronauts - retired Navy Capts Suni Williams &Butch Wilmore, Space Force Col.Nick Hague - and Roscosmos cosmonautAleksandr Gorbunov land in a Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, FL., March 18, 2025.
As of January 2025[update], Williams had made nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, setting a total-time record for a woman and ranking fourth overall on thelist of most experienced spacewalkers.[46]
Retirement from NASA
Williams delivering a talk in IIT Delhi on the day of her retirement announcement
After a 27-year career with the NASA, Sunita "Suni" Williams retired from the agency, effective 27 December 2025. Her retirement was officially announced by NASA on 20 January 2026.NASA AdministratorJared Isaacman described her as "a trailblazer in human spaceflight", noting that her contributions contributed to betterspace exploration and helped pave the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars.[47]
Following the announcement of her retirement, Williams visited theIndian Institute of Technology Delhi on the same day to deliver a lecture titledThe Making of an Astronaut: Sunita Williams' Story. During the visit, she spoke about her experiences in human spaceflight, including her recent missions during Expeditions 71 and 72, and interacted with students, faculty, and senior administrators of the institute.[48] Talking about the current phase ofhuman spaceflight, she remarked that "It is a very exciting time in human space exploration. Every new project has its ups and downs, but each one teaches us something and prepares us better for what comes next".[49][50]
Williams has also visited Slovenia several times.[3] In 2009, the clubSlovenian Astronaut (Slovenski astronavt) arranged amemorial room for her inLeše, Tržič, northwestern Slovenia.[56] Leše was the birthplace of her great-grandmother Marija Bohinjec, born in 1891, who immigrated to the United States as an 11-year-old in 1900 or 1901.[57] In May 2013, the former President of SloveniaBorut Pahor awarded Williams amedal of merit for her contribution to the popularisation ofscience and technology among the Slovenian youth.[58] During her stay in October 2014 she paid a visit to the Astronomical Society Vega inLjubljana.[59][60] She visited Slovenia again in 2016[61] and 2026.[62]
^"Running in Space".The Washington Post. April 18, 2007. RetrievedAugust 10, 2025.Just like earth-bound runners, Williams took a few short breaks. Her crewmates tossed her pieces of orange to snack on as she ran.
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