In their first public comments since their dramatic return to Earth, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore said they were surprised by the intense focus on their mission.
At a news briefing Monday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Williams and Wilmore described their “unique” mission, on which they unexpectedly spent more than nine months at the International Space Station when they were originally supposed to stay for only about a week.
The duo launched to the space station in June on the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. However, they encountered problems with the vehicle’s thrusters during the docking process, forcing them to remain in orbit for 286 days.
“The plan went way off for what we had planned, but because we’re in human spaceflight, we prepare for any number of contingencies,” Wilmore said. “This is a curvy road. You never know where it’s going to go.”
Wilmore said he’s focused on what’s ahead and applying the lessons learned from his unusual mission rather than blaming any organization or anyone for what happened. But he said both Boeing and NASA, “all the way up and down the chain,” shoulder responsibility for the outcome of the flight.
“You cannot do this business without trust,” Wilmore said. “You have to have ultimate trust. And for someone to step forward in these different organizations and say, ‘Hey, I’m culpable for part of that issue’ — that goes a long way to maintaining trust.”
Wilmore even pointed the finger at himself, as commander of the Starliner test flight, for not having asked more questions before its launch.
“I could have asked some questions, and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide,” he said.
Williams and Wilmore became famous for their longer-than-expected stay at the ISS.
They have been back on Earth now for nearly two weeks after they flew home in a SpaceX Dragon capsule and splashed down on March 18.
NASA ultimately decided to bring the Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without anyone on board in September, and agency officials shifted plans around to bring Wilmore and Williams back in a SpaceX capsule.
Williams and Wilmore left the space station along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were wrapping up a roughly six-month ISS mission.
Despite becoming known as the astronauts who were “stranded” in space, Williams and Wilmore have repeatedly said they enjoyed their extended time living and working at the orbiting outpost.
And when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims that the Biden administration held up the flight back to Earth for political reasons, both astronauts carefully stayed out of the fray.
Wilmore told NBC News that he was somewhat aware of the politically charged rhetoric surrounding their mission but that he never felt abandoned in space.
“I didn’t think about those type of things,” he said. “We were busy. We were focused on our mission.”
Hague said at Monday’s news conference that he and his astronaut colleagues were largely insulated from political noise aboard the space station.
“When we’re up there operating in space, you don’t feel the politics,” he said. “It’s focused strictly on mission.”
During their extended stay, Williams and Wilmore conducted science experiments, helped with spacewalks and assisted with maintenance projects. But while they stayed busy in orbit, Williams said, their longer-than-expected mission in space was most likely much harder for their families and loved ones.
“I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs,” she said when she was asked about the first thing she wanted to do after having landed.
Shortly after his return, Wilmore’s daughter had shared on TikTok her excitement over finally being reunited with her father after nine months.
Wilmore said he and Williams are scheduled to meet with Boeing leaders, program managers and engineers this week to discuss upgrades to the Starliner capsule. NASA has yet to make a decision about the vehicle’s next flight, including whether it will be crewed or uncrewed.
Still, the astronauts said they would fly on Starliner again if given the opportunity.
“We’re going to rectify the issues that we encountered,” Wilmore said. “We’re going to fix it. We’re going to make it work. Boeing’s completely committed. NASA is completely committed. And with that, I’d get on in a heartbeat.”
