Two NASA astronauts stranded in space after a fiasco with a Boeing spacecraft have held their first press conference.
Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station since Boeing’s Starliner flew them there on June 6.
Their extended stay has also proven challenging for their families on Earth. Wilmore and his wife have two daughters, one in her senior year of high school and one in college.
Wilmore said the delayed return mission means he will miss most of his youngest daughter’s senior year and he was unable to spend the summer with his oldest daughter before she returned to college.
But he hopes his absence will make them stronger. “They’re going to learn from this and they’re going to grow from this,” he said.
Sunita Williams (L) and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore answered questions live Friday from the International Space Station, where they have been stranded for more than three months
Sunita left her husband and two dogs at home when Starliner left over three months ago.
She said she misses walking her dog in the morning and hearing the sounds of the day beginning on Earth, like birds chirping.
But when you can look out the ISS window at your home planet, “you transport yourself to another place. It’s very peaceful here,” she said.
Starliner launched on June 5 with the intention of docking with the ISS for about a week, after which Wilmore and Williams would return safely to Earth.
But the mission got off to a rocky start. In the weeks leading up to it, the launch was postponed several times due to technical problems with the spacecraft.
Even on the day of launch, Starliner experienced small helium leaks, but engineers said they were not serious enough to delay the launch again.
From there it was all downhill. By the time Starliner reached the ISS, there were more helium leaks and five of the 18 thrusters had failed.
Ultimately, NASA decided that it would be too risky for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth on the Starliner.
A complete timeline of Boeing’s Starliner program, from the singing of their giant contact to the incident that left two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS.
Instead, they will wait for SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which will pick them up from the ISS and bring them home no later than February 2025.
Boeing’s Starliner returned to Earth unmanned on September 7.
Wilmore acknowledged the series of setbacks, saying there had been “some tough times” since their mission began, and it was difficult to see Starliner come home without them.
And as for NASA’s decision not to fly Williams and Wilmore back to Earth on their spacecraft, Wilmore said, “We found things we weren’t happy with.”
He said they could have reached the point where they could have returned with the Starliner, but “we just ran out of time.”
Williams said she and Wilmore previously served in the Navy and are therefore familiar with these types of last-minute logistical changes.
“We are not surprised if the stakes change,” she said, adding that their families understand that.
“It’s risky, and that’s just the way it is in this business,” she said.
When a reporter asked the astronauts if they felt “abandoned” by NASA and Boeing, Wilmore replied, “Absolutely not.”
Pointing to Williams’ T-shirt with the NASA logo on it, he said, “That represents something we stand for as an agency: We go above and beyond, we do things that are extraordinary.”
“This is not easy,” he added.
He explained that 90 percent of their astronaut training involves preparing for “the unexpected.”
But we don’t expect the astronauts to make critical comments about NASA, their employer, or the Boeing Starliner capsule that carried them to the ISS.
Furthermore, it is known that long-term space missions can negatively impact an astronaut’s mental and emotional well-being.
During simulated space missions, some experience the “third quarter phenomenon”: a dip in motivation that comes as they realize their situation has lasted as long as they have already experienced it.
But if Williams and Wilmore were beginning to feel exhausted from their long stay on the ISS, they didn’t show it. Their demeanor remained cheerful and upbeat throughout the press conference.
“We’re given assignments, we learn, we train to deal with all sorts of different situations,” Wilmore said, adding that he learned this not just at NASA, but throughout his career.
“You have to make do with what the good Lord gives you, whatever that is.”