CNN —

Astronaut Butch Wilmore is retiring from NASA less than five months after he returned from a troubled test mission that left him aboard the International Space Station far longer than expected, the space agency announced Wednesday.

Wilmore, along with NASA astronaut Suni Williams, piloted the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft last year. The mission gained worldwide attention when the spacecraft experienced several serious issues en route to the space station, including thruster outages and gas leaks.

Related video above: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams reflect on mission

Williams and Wilmore had been expected to stay about eight days in orbit. But NASA and Boeing spent weeks attempting to pinpoint what went wrong with their vehicle and assessing

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