Stranded Astronauts Finally Open Up About Unexpected Nine Months Marooned in Space

An astronaut who spent more than nine months in space after setting out on an eight-day mission tried to stay above the political fray in a new interview but says he never felt abandoned in space and doesn’t blame anyone for the delays.President Trump has previously claimed the Biden administration left astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in space and he tasked Elon Musk with bringing them home.Mr. Wilmore was asked in a Fox News interview about Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk.“I respect you. I trust you. You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, either one of them,” Mr. Wilmore said.But he didn’t place any blame on the Biden administration. “Based on how they were couching this — that we were left and forgotten and all that — we were nowhere near any of that at all,” Mr. Wilmore said. “Stuck? We didn’t get to come home the way we planned.”“You get a little bit tunnel-visioned in our job — do your job type of thing,” fellow astronaut Suni Williams said at a press conference on Monday. “You’re not really aware of what else is going on down here.”“I wouldn’t categorize it as ‘They failed us’,” Ms. Williams added.Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore arrived at the International Space Station on June 24, 2024 and were expected to return home in early July but that plan was scrubbed after their Boeing Starliner experienced thruster failures and helium leaks. NASA decided it was too risky to use it to bring the astronauts home and the rocket returned to Earth empty instead.They ended up being integrated into the space station crew and returned with the other astronauts.They said they are adjusting to being back on Earth.“Feeling good,” Ms. Williams said. “I actually went out and ran three miles yesterday.” She says she plans to do a couple of races this Spring.“I’m not as young as I used to be but I was stronger on the space station, doing more weight and more reps on exercises than I have in my entire life,” Mr. Williams said.He said that he has also been able to go on runs since he has returned to Earth and credited a team that is constantly learning about how space affects the human body.They admitted that it was challenging being away from their families unexpectedly for so long.“Difficult. Yes, it was in the preparation but in my family, we talk about these possibilities. We discussed all of this,” Mr. Wimore said.He noted that he took part in online church services every week to stay connected to his faith community.When asked who to blame for the problems with the Boeing Starliner that couldn’t take them back to Earth, Mr. Wilmore said, “I’ll start with me. There were questions that I, as commander of the spacecraft, should have asked and did not. At the time, I didn’t know that I needed to.”Both said the problems with the spacecraft were a learning opportunity and they said they would go up on the Boeing Starliner in the future.“This is a tough business,” Mr. Wilmore added. “We prepare for this.”The pair ended up staying 286 days, traveled 121,347,491 miles, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth, NASA said.The pair finally splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, nearly two weeks ago on one of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon capsules.Ms. Williams said she was a little surprised about the amount of interest in their saga. More than 180 news outlets took part in the press conference.The pair was joined at the news conference by astronaut Nick Hague, who returned from the space station with Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore. He had been in space since September.Mr. Hague joked that he had requested dolphins greet them when they returned when asked about several of them gathering near their capsule after it splashed down.“I didn’t see a fin. I wish I had seen a fin,” Ms. Williams added.NASA says Mr. Hague, Ms. Williams, and Mr. Wilmore completed over 900 hours of research, conducting more than 150 unique experiments aboard the space station.

Stranded Astronauts Finally Open Up About Unexpected Nine Months Marooned in Space

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