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NASA’s Suni Williams – one of two astronauts trapped in a capsule for months international space station ——Has retired.
The space agency announced the news on Tuesday, saying her retirement would be effective at the end of December.
Butch Wilmore, Williams’ crew member on Boeing’s ill-fated capsule test flight, left NASA last summer.
The pair will launch to the space station in 2024, becoming the first people to fly Boeing’s new Starliner crew module. Their mission was only supposed to last a week, but was extended to more than nine months due to Starliner malfunctions. Finally, they rode home last March space exploration technology corp..
boeing companyStarliner’s next mission will carry cargo, not people, to the space station. NASA wants to make sure all capsule thrusters and other issues are resolved before sending anyone aboard. Trials will take place later this year.
Williams, 60, ex. navy Captain, who has been with NASA for over 27 years and spent 608 days in space on 3 space station missions. She also set the record for the longest spacewalk by a woman: nine spacewalks lasting 62 hours.
NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman Call her a “pioneer of human spaceflight.”
“Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement,” he added in a statement.
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