Summary
Sunita (Suni) L. Williams was chosen as a NASA astronaut in 1998 and is a veteran of three space missions, Expeditions 14/15, 32/33, and 71/72. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore launched June 5, 2024, onboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on its first crewed flight, which docked at the International Space Station on June 6. After the agency decided to return Starliner uncrewed, the pair were designated as Expedition 71/72 crew members and returned home in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft alongside NASA As part of NASA’s Crew-9 mission, astronaut Nick Hague was joined by Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Over her career, Williams has completed a total of 62 hours and 6 minutes of total time spent on spacewalks, the most of any female astronaut and fourth on NASA’s all-time list. In three flights, Williams has spent 608 days in space.
Personal
September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio, to Dr. Deepak and Bonnie Pandya. She hails from Needham, Massachusetts. In her free time, Suni and her husband Michael like to hang out with their dogs, work out in their houses, work on their cars, work on their airplanes, hike, and camp.
Education
Needham High School, Needham, Mass., 1983 Bachelor of Science in Physical Science, U.S. Naval Academy, 1987. M.S. in Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology, 1995.
Experience
Williams was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy through the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. She was temporarily assigned to the Naval Coastal System Command for six months before being awarded her designator as a Basic Diving Officer, and she subsequently reported to the Naval Aviation Training Command. In July 1989, she was designated a Naval Aviator. She transferred to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 3 for initial H46, Seaknight, training. After this training, she was stationed with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 8 in Norfolk, Va., and deployed overseas to the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf in support of Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort. She was the Officer-in-Charge of an H-46 detachment deployed to Miami, Florida, for Hurricane Andrew Relief Operations onboard USS Sylvania in September 1992. Williams was chosen for the United States Naval Test Pilot School and started the program in January 1993. Upon completion of flight training in October 1993, she was designated a Naval Aviator, followed by joint assignment at the Rotary Wing Aircraft Test Directorate as an H-46 Project Officer and V-22 Chase Pilot in the T-2. She served as the squadron safety officer while there and flew test flights in the SH-60B/F, UH-1, AH-1W, SH-2, VH-3, H-46, CH-53, and H-57. In December 1995, she returned to the Naval Test Pilot School as an instructor in the Rotary Wing Department and the school’s safety officer, where she flew the UH-60, OH-6, and OH-58. She went on to join the USS Saipan (LHA-2), Norfolk, Virginia, as the aircraft handler and the assistant air boss. At the time of her selection for the astronaut program, Williams was deployed onboard USS Saipan. Over 30 different aircraft, she has over 3000 flight hours.
NASA Experience
She was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in June 1998 and reported for training in August 1998. The training consisted of orientation briefings and tours, extensive scientific and technical briefings, rigorous training on shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school for T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. After training and evaluating, Williams worked with the Russian Space Agency in Moscow to assist with the Russian component of the space station and with the first Expedition Crew. After Expedition 1 returned, Williams was in the robotics branch, working on the station’s robotic arm and its follow-on, the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. As a NEEMO2 crew member, she spent 9 days living in the Aquarius habitat underneath the ocean. After her first mission, she was Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. Afterward, she served as the Flight Engineer for Expedition 32 and the International Space Station Commander for Expedition 33 of long-duration missions. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore launched on board Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024, for its first crewed flight, and arrived at the space station on June 6. After the agency decided to send Starliner back uncrewed, the two became members of Expedition 71/72 and returned during a March 2025 launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
Spaceflight Experience
Expedition 14/15 (9 December 2006–22 June 2007). Williams launched with the STS-116 crew on 9 December 2006, and docked with the International Space Station on 11 December 2006. Williams served as Flight Engineer for the Expedition 14 crew. During her time on the station, she set a then-world record for women of four spacewalks with a total time of 29 hours and 17 minutes. Williams wrapped up her tenure as a member of the Expedition 15 crew flying home with the STS-117 crew and made a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 22, 2007.
Expedition 32/33 (July 14 to Nov. 18, 2012). Williams blasted off July 14, 2012, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Russian Soyuz commander Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide, a flight engineer with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonauts, Expedition 32 commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, welcomed them on the International Space Station on July 17, 2012. Williams spent four months performing research and exploration aboard the floating science lab. She returned to Earth on Nov. 18, 2012, after 127 days in space, landing in Kazakhstan. Williams and Hoshide made three spacewalks during their expedition to replace a component that transmits electricity from the space station’s solar arrays to its system, and to fix an ammonia leak on a station radiator.
In Expedition 72, with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9, Williams conducted a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore to assist in removing a radar frequency group antenna assembly mounted on the external truss of the station as well as to collect samples and surface material for return to Earth from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock for analysis. On this spacewalk, Williams broke former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson’s record for cumulative spacewalking time by a female astronaut. That gives Williams 62 hours, 6 minutes in all, fourth on NASA’s all-time spacewalk list.
Awards/Honors
DSSM (2), Legion of Merit, Navy Commendation Medal (2), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and numerous other service awards.
Organizations
But it has also evolved to mean few elements of imagery from a collection of over 700 million back as far as December 2005.
Pronunciation
SUN-ee-tah WILL-yums
