Sunita Williams graduated from the United States Naval Academy in May 1987. As a naval test pilot, she has logged more than 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types. Williams was selected by NASA to begin training as an astronaut in June 1998. On December 9, 2006, she made her first trip to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the space shuttle Discovery as a flight engineer. During this trip, she participated in the Boston Marathon by running 26.2 miles on the station’s treadmill. Williams returned to the ISS twice more. Her last trip in 2024 was scheduled to last eight days but technical problems stranded Williams and crewmate Butch Wilmore for more than nine months. They returned to Earth on March 18, 2025. Williams’ nine spacewalks are second-most by a woman and she holds the record for the most spacewalk time by a woman, totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes.
Read more at NASA.