CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are getting ready to come back to Earth after spending nine months in space. Their return is just a few weeks away, but they have to wait for their replacements to arrive at the International Space Station next week.
Once the new crew arrives, Wilmore and Williams will board a SpaceX capsule to head home. The SpaceX flight will also carry two astronauts who flew in alone back in September, leaving two additional empty seats for the journey.
During a recent press conference, Wilmore mentioned that even though politics is part of their world, it didn’t affect their return schedule. Their trip home was moved up thanks to changes in SpaceX capsules, after discussions involving President Trump and Elon Musk at the end of January.
Williams expressed concern about Musk’s suggestion to decommission the space station in just two years. She highlighted the invaluable scientific research taking place there and emphasized how important the station is right now, saying, “This place is ticking. It’s just really amazing.”
After their extended stay, Williams is especially looking forward to reuniting with her Labrador retrievers. She shared that the hardest part of their mission was how tough it was on their families back home. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably more so than for us,” she noted. Despite the challenges, she said they stay focused on their work, which remains interesting and fun.
When they first launched in June aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, they expected their mission to be brief. However, the Starliner faced several issues, leading NASA to decide it was unsafe for crewed flights, resulting in an empty return. Their homecoming was further delayed due to the need for more time to prepare the new SpaceX capsule for their replacements.
Nasa recently announced that the next crew will launch in a used capsule instead, which has moved their launch date up to March 12. Both crews will spend about a week together on the space station before Wilmore and Williams depart with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov.
As retired Navy captains and experienced astronauts, Wilmore and Williams have assured everyone that they are healthy and dedicated to their mission. They even completed a spacewalk together in January. This time, they will wear standard SpaceX flight suits instead of custom outfits, as their return was unplanned. Wilmore joked that he might write his name on his suit with a pen, while Williams said, “We’re just Butch and Suni. Everybody knows who we are by now.”
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Source linkAerospace technology, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space exploration, Aerospace and defense industry, Science, Donald Trump, Alexander Gorbunov, Elon Musk
