NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams has simply been handed the keys to the Worldwide Area Station, marking a milestone in her eight-month-long mission that was initially presupposed to final eight days.

Throughout what’s generally known as a “change of command ceremony” aboard the Worldwide Area Station (ISS), Russian cosmonaut Olog Kononenko handed management of ISS Expedition 71 over to Williams, who arrived to the orbiting laboratory aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June. 

It is an sudden addition to Williams’ already uncommon go to to house; she and NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore each launched on Starliner’s Crewed Flight Take a look at (CFT), a mission initially anticipated to final a couple of week. Problems with the spacecraft’s thrusters, nonetheless, meant the duo was booked into an prolonged keep aboard the station. It’s because NASA and Boeing in the end determined to return Starliner to Earth with out its crew as a security precaution. Williams and Wilmore must come house in February 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

“It has been a good time to work, and an amazing pleasure to work and spend time collectively right here, as an enormous household onboard the house station,” Kononenko stated in an emotional tackle through the ceremony.