‘Abandoned’ astro takes recordbreaking ninth spacewalk

NASA ‘naut Sunita Williams has broken Peggy Whitson’s record for total spacewalking time for a female astronaut with a trip outside the International Space Station (ISS) to collect samples from the outpost’s exterior.

Sunita Williams performing a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Pic: NASA

Williams was accompanied by fellow astronaut, Butch Wilmore, on her ninth spacewalk. It was Wilmore’s fifth spacewalk. According to NASA, Williams now has 62 hours and six minutes of total spacewalk time, which places her fourth on the space agency’s all-time list.

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The duo had originally traveled to the ISS in Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule in 2024. However, the pair were instructed to remain onboard the outpost after NASA decided issues with the Boeing spacecraft were too risky for a crewed return to Earth. Starliner could have been used in an emergency, but for nominal situations it was a case of safety first.

Williams and Wilmore were instead made part of the Crew-9 mission and are scheduled to depart the ISS in a SpaceX Crew Dragon not earlier than the end of March.

Sunita Williams is now within touching distance of the all-time NASA spacewalk record. Another trip outside should seal the deal, although it is unclear if Williams will have a hand in the next EVA (space agency lingo for Extravehicular Activity), which will involve preparing the ISS for the installation of the next roll-out solar array.

In addition to collecting the samples, Williams and Wilmore also removed a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss.

Williams is currently serving as commander of the ISS, and her unplanned stay onboard the station should put her twelfth in the rankings for most time in space when she returns to Earth.

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The spacewalk was Wilmore’s first outside the ISS on this mission. Williams had already ventured outside with NASA astronaut Nick Hague two weeks ago to remove and replace a rate gyro assembly and install patches to cover damaged areas of light filters on the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) x-ray telescope. The astros replaced a reflector device on one of the international docking adapters too.

It is unclear if Williams will have another opportunity to fly in space again, or would even accept another mission if offered. She and Wilmore have had some unexpected bonus time on the ISS. Although Williams is currently not on the crew for the first operational Starliner mission, there is every chance that the test mission she flew with Wilmore might need to be repeated.

So, never say never. ®