Suni Williams, the NASA astronaut who was stuck at the space station for months, retires within a year of returning

Cape Canaveral, Florida – Sonny Williams has retired from NASA – one of two astronauts stuck for months on the International Space Station.

The space agency announced the news on Tuesday, saying its retirement took effect at the end of December.

Butch Wilmore, Williams’ colleague on Boeing’s ill-fated test flight, left NASA last summer.

The duo will blast off to the space station in 2024, becoming the first people to fly in Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule. Their mission was supposed to last only one week, but was extended to more than nine months due to the Starliner problem. They finally got a flight home last March on SpaceX.

Boeing’s upcoming Starliner mission will carry cargo — not people — to the space station. NASA wants to make sure all of the capsule’s engine and other issues are resolved before putting anyone on board. A trial run will be conducted later this year.

Williams, 60, a former Navy captain, spent more than 27 years at NASA, spending 608 days in space during three missions on the station. She also set a record for the longest spacewalk by a woman: 62 hours over nine flights.

NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman, called her a “pioneer in human spaceflight.”

He added in a statement: “Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement.”