Overview
- The agency confirmed the retirement on Jan. 20, noting three International Space Station missions over a 27-year career.
- Williams accumulated 608 days in orbit and nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours 6 minutes, the most spacewalk time by a woman and second-most days in space for a NASA astronaut.
- Her June 2024 Boeing Starliner crew test stretched to over nine months due to thruster problems, and she returned to Earth on SpaceX Crew‑9 in March 2025.
- She served on Expeditions 71 and 72 and took command of the station for Expedition 72, building experience crucial to future exploration efforts.
- Currently visiting India, she reflected on passing the torch to new explorers and underscored her cultural ties, having flown items such as a Ganesha idol and the Bhagavad Gita.