NASA astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams surpassed a major milestone on January 30, 2025, when she broke the record for total spacewalking time held by former astronaut Peggy Whitson.
The International Space Station (ISS) shared the news on X: '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.'
Williams was outside the ISS during the spacewalk to maintain the station's hardware and collect surface material samples from Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock for analysis.
This spacewalk was part of Expedition 72, and it began at approximately 8 am EST.
NASA live-streamed the event on YouTube and their official website, marking the 92nd US spacewalk.
Williams, who was wearing the suit with red stripes, was joined by astronaut Butch Wilmore, who wore the unmarked suit.
This was Wilmore's fifth spacewalk and Williams' ninth.
The spacewalk was expected to last about six and a half hours.
Both astronauts arrived at the ISS in 2024 as part of Expedition 72, which began on September 23.
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