At Cape Canaveral, Florida, two of NASA’s high-profile astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, recently shared insights into their unexpectedly protracted mission and acknowledged partial responsibility for the issues encountered during Boeing’s Starliner mission. Coming back from an extended stay of over nine months at the International Space Station (ISS), the astronauts returned via SpaceX, as Boeing failed to bring them back safely the previous year.
In their first public comments after returning, Wilmore and Williams expressed surprise at the attention their mission garnered, emphasizing they were merely performing their duties, prioritizing the mission above personal and familial concerns. Wilmore was upfront in assuming some responsibility for Boeing’s flawed test flight, stating, “I’ll start and point the finger, and I’ll blame me. I could have asked some questions, and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide.” Acknowledging collective accountability in the mission’s problems, Wilmore insisted that all parties involved shared in the responsibility.
Both astronauts committed to flying on the Starliner again, with Wilmore asserting their dedication to addressing and resolving the encountered issues. “Because we’re going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We’re going to fix them. We’re going to make it work,” he pledged, expressing eagerness for a potential future mission. Williams echoed the sentiment, highlighting the potential capabilities of the Starliner and her desire to see its success, affirming, “We’re all in.”
The duo plans to engage in a comprehensive review with Boeing’s leadership, focusing on the mission rather than assigning blame, as Wilmore described it, “It’s not for pointing fingers. It’s just to make the path clearer going forward.” Their return to Earth concluded an unanticipated 286-day orbit, much longer than their initial schedule after launching on June 5 on Boeing’s inaugural astronaut mission. During the mission, they had to manage the Starliner capsule manually due to malfunctions with the thrusters and helium leaks.
The astronauts’ sojourn was prolonged as engineers deliberated on the next steps, eventually leading NASA to deem the Starliner too risky for reentry, prompting a switch to SpaceX. However, delays with the launch of their replacements led to the lengthening of their mission to over nine months. Political pressure, including from President Donald Trump urging SpaceX’s Elon Musk to accelerate efforts, added to the complexity of their situation. The saga reached its conclusion with SpaceX successfully completing their return via a splashdown off the Florida Panhandle.
After their return, Williams expressed her happiness at being home and shared a special moment of reuniting with her dogs, describing it as “Pure joy.” Meanwhile, Wilmore attended to domestic tasks, including replacing shrubs in the yard as per his wife’s request, humorously noting the need to acclimate his body to yard work.
NASA remains puzzled by the persistent issues with Starliner’s thrusters and is planning further assessments over the summer. Wilmore remains optimistic, remarking, “If engineers can figure out the thruster and leak issues, Starliner is ready to go.” An additional test flight, likely focused on cargo, may precede any further manned missions and could potentially take place by the end of the year.
NASA representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the original strategy of employing two competing American companies to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, although the timeline is pressing, as the current space station is expected to be decommissioned within five years to make way for private orbital laboratories.