Astronauts stuck in space Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday that it is difficult to cope with the fact that their Boeing plane is leaving without them and that they will have to spend several more months in space.
It was their first public comments since returning last week. Boeing Starliner capsule which took them to the International Space Station in June. They stayed behind after NASA determined that the capsule with the problem was too dangerous to take back. Their eight-day mission is now expected to last more than eight months.
“It was challenging at times. There were some tough moments all the time,” Wilmore said from 260 miles (420 kilometers) up. As spacecraft pilots, “you don’t want it to go down without you, but that’s where we ended up.”
Williams, who is from Needham, said she missed her family, walking her dogs and seeing her friends.
“It would be nice if someone put an apple from New England on a spaceship coming here,” Williams joked.
While they never expected to be there for almost a year, as the first test pilots of Starliner, they knew there could be issues that could delay their return. “That’s the way it is in this business,” Williams said.
Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged space station crew members, helping with routine maintenance and experiments. Williams will take command of the space station in a few weeks, Wilmore told reporters at a news conference — only their second since launching from Florida on June 5.
The duo, along with seven others aboard, welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily increasing the station’s population to a near-record 12. And two more astronauts will fly with SpaceX later this month; two capsule seats will remain empty for Wilmore and Williams for the return trip.
The transition to life on the space station was “not that difficult” because they had both been there before, said Williams, who had two extended stays on the space station years ago.
“This is my happy place. I love being here in space,” she said.
Wilmore noted that his adjustment wasn’t immediate, but it was “pretty close.”
The astronauts said they appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home and that it has helped them cope with everything they will miss back home.
Williams couldn’t help but worry for a while about losing precious face-to-face time with her mother. Wilmore won’t be around for his youngest daughter’s senior year of high school. He just requested a mail-in ballot for Friday so he can vote from space in the November election. Both stressed the importance of fulfilling their civic duties while their mission continues.
Their Starliner capsule marked Boeing’s first spaceflight with astronauts. It endured a series of thruster failures and helium leaks before arriving at the space station on June 6. It landed safely in the New Mexico desert earlier this month, but Boeing’s path forward in NASA’s commercial crew program remains uncertain.
The space agency hired SpaceX and Boeing as an orbital taxi service a decade ago after the shuttles retired. SpaceX has been flying astronauts since 2020.
Williams said she is excited to fly two different spacecraft on the same mission. “We are testers, that’s what we do,” she said.
“We wanted to bring Starliner to completion and put it back on land at home,” she added. “But you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”
Wilmore says he’s relying on his faith for now and that they both need a little humor to get through this.
“One thing about spaceflight is great: Your joints don’t hurt,” Wilmore said of the zero-gravity environment. “There’s no pressure on them.”
“I know the crowd in Boston is cheering us on,” Williams said, adding a thick New England accent. “We’ll find a better place to park the car next time.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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