Former NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams turns 61 on 19 September 2026. She was born in Euclid, Ohio, grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as a helicopter and then test pilot in the US Navy.

The agency selected her in 1998. Her first mission began in 2006 on the International Space Station, with assembly work. In 2012 she returned and commanded Expedition 33. NASA notes that she was the first person to run a marathon in orbit.

Her third flight began on 5 June 2024 on Boeing’s crewed Starliner test, with Butch Wilmore. A stay of a few days lengthened after propulsion problems. NASA decided to return Starliner uncrewed and fold the two astronauts into the commercial crew rotation.

Williams and Wilmore came home on 18 March 2025 in the SpaceX Dragon Freedom capsule of Crew-9, after 286 days in space. It was not “being stuck” in the sense of captivity: it was an operational decision to keep them on expedition until a vehicle judged fit for return.

At the end of her career NASA records 608 days in space — second among the agency’s astronauts — and nine spacewalks totalling 62 hours and 6 minutes, the most cumulative spacewalk time by a woman. She retired from NASA on 27 December 2025 after 27 years.

The anniversary treats her as a former astronaut. The figures are those published by the agency after retirement.

Image: Sunita Williams, 31 July 2018 / Robert Markowitz, NASA / Wikimedia Commons, public domain. A studio portrait, not a spacewalk. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Retires; Sunita L. Williams | NASA.