Overview
- NASA said Williams’ retirement took effect on December 27, 2025, with the news publicized in January as she visited India.
- She logged 608 cumulative days across three long-duration ISS missions and completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours 6 minutes, the most by a woman.
- Her 2024 Starliner crew test stretched from a planned week to over nine months, and she returned to Earth in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
- Williams and crewmate Butch Wilmore each spent 286 days on their latest mission, tying for the sixth-longest single American spaceflight.
- Administrator Jared Isaacman praised her as a trailblazer in human spaceflight, while NASA and Boeing shift to an uncrewed Starliner demonstration before resuming crew rotations.