Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are preparing to end their extended stay on the International Space Station (ISS). They arrived there in June as part of Boeing’s first crewed Starliner mission. Initially, they planned to stay for about a week. However, their return was delayed due to thruster issues with the Starliner, prompting NASA to extend their mission several times for investigation.
Eventually, NASA decided that the Starliner would return to Earth uncrewed, which successfully happened on September 6. Wilmore and Williams will now return home later, riding back on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which launched on September 28. This mission included two vacant seats for the Starliner astronauts.
The Crew-9 mission is nearing its conclusion, set to wrap up shortly after the Crew-10 flight takes to the skies on March 12.
Recently, Wilmore and Williams have made headlines not just for their space mission, but also due to the political dialogue surrounding it. Some high-profile figures have claimed that they were “stranded” in space, suggesting that former President Joe Biden’s administration delayed their return for political reasons. However, the astronauts disagree with this narrative.
They have clarified that they adapted to a new mission as part of the ISS crew, simply using a different method to return home. In a recent press call, Wilmore emphasized that they had been prepared for a longer stay, saying, “We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short.” He indicated that adaptive planning is a critical part of space missions.
When asked about political influences, Wilmore stated that he and his team have not felt any pressure in that regard. “From my standpoint,” he added, “politics is not playing into this at all.” He respects both Trump and Musk and appreciates their contributions to human spaceflight.
Musk mentioned he had offered to return them home months earlier, but that offer apparently didn’t materialize. Wilmore regarded Musk as truthful but admitted he was unfamiliar with the specifics of any early return discussions.
On their upcoming return, Wilmore, Williams, and Crew-9’s commander Nick Hague will fly back aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Freedom. They feel the bittersweet nature of returning home, torn between excitement to see their families and the sadness of leaving behind life in space. Williams expressed a desire to hold on to the inspiration that comes with being in space, saying, “I don’t want to lose that spark.”
Check out this related article: Nasa Reveals: Why the International Space Station is ‘Too Clean’ for Science Experiments
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