NASA astronaut Sunita Williams achieved a major feat on January 30. She broke the record held earlier by former astronaut Peggy Whitson by setting a new spacewalking record. In a post on X, the International Space Station (ISS) shared that Williams surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson’s total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes. Both Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore came out of the International Space Station (ISS) for a 5.5-hour spacewalk on Thursday.

During the spacewalk, which was part of Expedition 72, Williams was outside the ISS to maintain the station’s hardware. She also collected surface material samples from the Destiny laboratory and Quest airlock for analysis.

The spacewalk began at approximately 8 am EST, and NASA live-streamed the event on YouTube and their official website, marking the 92nd US spacewalk.

While Williams was wearing the suit with red stripes, Butch Wilmore donned the unmarked suit. It was Sunita Williams’ ninth spacewalk and Wilmore’s fifth. 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.