NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore make history with record-breaking 5.5-hour spacewalk, watch video

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore conducted a 5.5-hour spacewalk from the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, setting a new record, according to the US space agency.

This marked Williams' ninth spacewalk and Wilmore's fifth. With this latest achievement, Williams now holds a total of 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalk time, placing her fourth on NASA's all-time list.

Williams and Wilmore successfully achieved their main objectives during the spacewalk, which included removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station's truss and collecting surface material samples for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock, as reported by the US space agency.

LIVE: @NASA_Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are taking a spacewalk to maintain @Space_Station hardware and collect samples. Today's spacewalk is scheduled to start at 8am ET (1300 UTC) and go for about 6.5 hours. https://t.co/6pvzcwPdgs

— NASA (@NASA) January 30, 2025

Meanwhile, NASA announced on Wednesday that it is collaborating with billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX to ensure the safe return of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been at the International Space Station (ISS) for several months, back to Earth "as soon as practical."

Veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024 aboard Boeing's Starliner. Initially scheduled to spend only eight days on the orbiting laboratory, their stay was extended due to technical issues with the spacecraft. In August, NASA announced that SpaceX, a competitor to Boeing, would be responsible for bringing the crew home in February. However, their return has been delayed further as SpaceX prepares a new spacecraft.

This development followed a statement from US President Donald Trump, who indicated that SpaceX would "soon" initiate a mission to repatriate the two American astronauts.