Feeling Right at Home: Astronauts Clarify Myths About Life ‘Stuck’ in Space

The crew aboard Boeing’s Starliner, consisting of NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, is wrapping up a much longer stay in space than they anticipated. They want to clear up some confusion about claims that they are “stranded astronauts.”

Williams and Wilmore launched to the International Space Station (ISS) last June. They expected their stay to last around 10 days. However, issues with Starliner’s thrusters caused delays during docking. This prompted investigations by NASA and Boeing, causing their mission timeline to stretch.

Eventually, the Starliner returned to Earth without a crew. Williams and Wilmore were then reassigned to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which touched down at the ISS in late September. This change meant they would spend additional time in orbit until the arrival of the Crew-10 team.

Despite media reports of them being “stranded,” Williams and Wilmore have been busy with their duties at the ISS. Recently, Williams achieved a significant milestone by breaking the record for the most cumulative spacewalking time by a woman.

The situation was further highlighted when former President Donald Trump criticized the Biden administration for allegedly neglecting the astronauts and called on Elon Musk for help.

In December, NASA announced a delay for the Crew-10 launch, pushing it to “late March” 2025. This development means that Williams and Wilmore will remain in space longer than originally planned, as they prepare to return with Crew-9 astronauts, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Due to further delays in the Crew-10 spacecraft’s construction, NASA decided to substitute it with a different spacecraft that could be ready sooner. The timing of this change coincided with the public comments from Trump and Musk, who echoed the narrative of the “stranded astronauts.” Williams and Wilmore want to shift this conversation.

In a recent interview, the astronauts emphasized that unexpected mission extensions are part of their training. “We come prepared, committed to handle any situation,” Wilmore explained. “We don’t feel abandoned or stuck.” He assured that they could return to Earth if there were a medical emergency or another serious issue, but they wouldn’t expect immediate returns for any other reasons.

Both astronauts have experience with long missions and are enjoying their time in space. Williams shared her excitement about floating in the ISS, reminiscing about the sensation of weightlessness. When it’s time to leave, she anticipates feeling emotional: “I think both of us will be a little bit sad when that feeling of space sort of leaves us.”

NASA aims to launch Crew-10 no earlier than March 12. Typically, there’s about a week of crew overlap in the station’s schedule, so Wilmore predicts that Crew-9 will likely return to Earth around March 19.