Not Sunitha Williams: This Astronaut Holds NASA Record for Longest Spaceflight

After months of uncertainty, NASA astronauts Sunitha Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally set to return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) on March 18.

According to NASA, their journey back to Earth will last approximately 17 hours, with the splashdown scheduled to occur off the coast of Florida at around 3:27 AM IST.

Williams and Wilmore travelled to the ISS in June last year to participate in the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner. What was originally planned as an eight-day mission was extended to a nine-month stay when the spacecraft encountered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit for the return journey. Instead, it returned empty.

While Sunitha Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent over 270 days aboard the ISS, their mission does not hold the record for the longest spaceflight. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio holds the record for a single spaceflight at 371 days, followed by Mark Vande Hei (355 days) and Scott Kelly (340 days). NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson holds the record for the most cumulative days in space, with 675 days.

In addition to NASA astronauts, Soviet and Russian cosmonaut Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov holds the record for the longest single spaceflight, spending 437 days (14 months) aboard the Mir space station. The Mir space station, which operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, was initially managed by the Soviet Union and later by the Russian Federation.

"Will Miss Everything," Says Williams on Leaving the ISS

Asked what she would miss most after returning from the ISS, Sunitha Williams quickly responded, "I will miss everything."

Speaking from the ISS during a press conference, she explained, “This has been Butch’s and my third flight to the ISS. We helped put it together, and we’ve watched it evolve. Just living here gives us a unique perspective—not just looking out the window, but on how to solve problems. I don’t want to lose that spark of inspiration and perspective when I leave, so I’m going to have to bottle it up somehow.”

However, Williams acknowledged that the most difficult part was the prolonged uncertainty of being stranded in space without a clear return date. “It has been a rollercoaster for our families and supporters, probably more so than it has been for us,” she said. “We are here, and we have a mission. We do what we have to do every day. The hardest thing has been not knowing when we’d come back. All of that uncertainty has been the most difficult part.”