Sunita Williams, 59, is a veteran astronaut with NASA and a retired U.S. Navy officer. She was born in Euclid, Ohio, and considers Needham, Massachusetts, her home.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were on the International Space Station more than nine months, despite launching into space in June for what was expected to be an eight-day mission.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.