Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore became famous for spending an unplanned 9 months in orbit instead of a short eight-day visit. Their ordeal even became part of Donald Trump's propaganda, who claimed that his predecessor Joe Biden "abandoned" them in space.
Sunita Williams and her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore returned to Earth on March 19, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which landed off the coast of Florida. And a year later, Sunita suddenly announced that she was leaving NASA in less than a year, according to the Daily Mail.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore spent 9 months in space. The reasons for Williams' sudden resignation are not specified, but it is presumed that after an unexpectedly long visit, she began to experience health problems, similar to her colleague.
Wilmore and Williams left Earth in June 2024, planning to conduct an eight-day test flight on the new Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station (ISS).
However, after numerous technical issues arose during the flight in the Starliner capsule, the astronauts had to wait for the next crew change to return to Earth. Donald Trump used the spacecraft's problems to once again criticize Joe Biden. He claimed that the U.S. president had "abandoned" the astronauts to their fate.
In total, the pair spent 286 days in space — 278 days longer than originally planned.
Despite the trauma experienced, Sunita Williams claims that space is her favorite place.
"It was an incredible honor for me to work in the Astronaut Office and to have the opportunity to go to space three times. The International Space Station, the people, the engineering developments, and the scientific achievements are truly impressive and have made possible the next steps in exploring the Moon and Mars. I hope that the foundation we laid has made these bold steps a little easier," she said.
The unexpectedly long flight in space seems to have taken a toll on the 60-year-old woman. With each passing day, health experts and NASA staff began to express concern that Williams was rapidly losing weight.
In total, Sunita Williams worked for 27 years, completing three missions aboard the ISS.
In photographs, she appeared emaciated upon her return to Earth, although Sunita claimed she had not actually lost weight.
It is worth noting that Sunita Williams' colleague, Butch Wilmore, retired even earlier than she did. His daughter reported that while her father adapted well to gravity, he experienced issues with his muscles, joints, and inner ear.
On January 15, NASA conducted the first-ever medical evacuation of a crew from the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Michael Fincke and Zena Cardman, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Russian Oleg Platonov landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. What exactly happened to the astronauts has not been disclosed.
Leave a comment