WASHINGTON: Astronaut Sunita Williams has set a new record for the longest spacewalk by a woman. After spending five hours and 26 minutes outside the International Space Station, Sunita's total spacewalk has reached 62 hours and six minutes. Sunita surpassed the record of 60 hours and 21 minutes set by NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2017.

"We know we are not the first or second people to walk in space. But we have achieved this great achievement," Sunita said before the end of the spacewalk. Sunita walked with her companion Butch Wilmore. Together, they successfully removed a faulty radio communications unit on the space station. This mission had failed twice before.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore left Earth on June 5, 2024, as part of a test flight of Boeing's Starliner to carry humans to the ISS. The plan was to reach the space station on June 7 and return on the 13th. However, the return journey was delayed due to problems with the Starliner's thrusters and a helium leak.

Elon Musk said that US President Donald Trump had sought help for the return journey of the two people trapped on the International Space Station. NASA had partnered with Musk's SpaceX in the mission to return the two.