NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and fellow astronaut Barry Wilmore will now return to Earth in February 2025.
NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, observed the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s safe return in New Mexico, completing its six-hour flight. The two, who are aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June, expressed their happiness on Starliner’s successful return to Earth. However, during a live press conference on Friday night, Williams did express her desire to have completed her mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which returned to Earth without them.
Sharing her views on the spacecraft's uncrewed return and how their homecoming is delayed until February 2025, Williams explained, “We wanted to take Starliner to completion and land back on land at home, but you know, you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”
For those caught unaware, Williams and Wilmore went aboard the Starliner on June 5 as part of the spacecraft’s first crewed mission. They were expected to stay at ISS for just over a week. However, due to thruster malfunctions and other technical problems, NASA decided that it was safer if the Starliner returned uncrewed, and it did so successfully on September 6.
Wilmore, who also was present during the press conference, further revealed why they didn’t return on the Starliner. “We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time,” Wimore said, adding, “In this case, we found some things that we just could not get comfortable with putting us back in the Starliner when we had other options.” While both Williams and him were hoping that the technical issues could be resolved, NASA decided to extend their stay on the ISS.
Amid challenges, Williams expressed her happiness on Starliner’s uncrewed return, and asserted, “This is the first time we’ve had humans in space in Starliner, and we did find stuff, and we made the right decisions. That’s how things go in this business.”
It is now confirmed that Williams and Wilmore will return to Earth in February 2025. They will return aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, as part of the Crew-9 mission, finally ending their eight-month endeavour.
To say the least, Williams, a seasoned space traveller, called the ISS as a “happy place,” and how their lives there aren't difficult as both of them have extensive experience in space. During their stay at ISS, the two continue to work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew.
