Historic 5.5-Hour Spacewalk: Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore Achieve Milestone
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams broke the record for the most time spent in space by a woman, logging 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalking, on January 30. During a five-and-a-half-hour spacewalk with colleague Butch Wilmore, Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes. While Williams has completed nine spacewalks, Peggy Whitson still holds the record for the most spacewalks by a woman with 10.
.@NASA_Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore wrapped up today’s spacewalk at 1:09pm ET (6:09pm UTC) today after spending five hours and 26 minutes removing radio communications hardware and searching for microbes. https://t.co/Tyo8a2ncos
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
In an official announcement, NASA stated, “At 10:24 am central time, this morning, Suni Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s aggregate record of EVA [extravehicular activity] hours…Suni records keep mounting at each passing time.”
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In addition, Williams is set to surpass NASA astronaut Jeff Williams in total flight time, placing her second behind Peggy Whitson for US astronaut experience. Before this mission, Sunita Williams had spent a total of 322 days in space, while Jeff Williams had 534 days. After her launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, Williams has now spent over 500 days in space, and she’s expected to surpass Jeff’s tally if she returns by late March or early April.
For the unversed, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024, for its first crewed flight, initially expected to last just a week after their arrival at the space station on June 6. However, due to technical issues with the Starliner capsule, NASA decided to return it empty, leaving the two astronauts in orbit until the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft could bring them home.
NASA astronaut Suni WIlliams just surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes today. Suni is still outside in the vacuum of space removing radio communications hardware. Watch now on @NASA+… https://t.co/OD43nAlf5m pic.twitter.com/N5Mr0qQWJP
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 30, 2025
Due to delays in launching their replacements, their mission was extended to 10 months, with a return expected in late March or early April. While some believed they were “stranded” in space, NASA and the astronauts clarified that they were enjoying their time aboard the ISS.
Two weeks ago, Williams completed a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Nick Hague, while this marked Wilmore’s first spacewalk on this mission. Both astronauts have accumulated several spacewalks during their previous stays at the space station.
Since December 1998, there have been 274 spacewalks conducted at the International Space Station.
