NASA Astronauts Return to Earth

Danielle Aiken

Editor in Chief

On March 18, NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, returned back home after their unexpected nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station.

Originally slated for an eight-day mission on the ISS, the starliner duo ended up residing in space for 286 days.

Once their capsule initially reached the ISS, technical issues arised. Issues aided the decision for their pilot capsule, the Boeing Starliner, to return to Earth unmanned, leaving its two pilots behind, according to AP News.

NASA eventually partnered with SpaceX to send one of their spacecrafts up to the ISS, in order for the pilots to return back home in March. They eventually splashed down on the coast of Florida.

Upon their arrival, they immediately entered into a “grueling rehab program and have spoken to the media for the first time”, according to LAD Bible.

Both astronauts insisted that they were never stranded, and had more pressing issues to deal with at the time. The duo were met with technical problems even before their arrival to the ISS, which required manual takeover control of the ship after losing four thrusters.

While speaking to Arstechnica, Wilmore admitted: “I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point. “I don’t know if we can. And matter of fact, I’m thinking we probably can’t.”

Thinking he had lost control of the capsule, they had to decide whether to turn back or dock aboard the ISS, with Williams recalling: “We don’t know exactly what is happening, why the thrusters are falling off, and what the solution would be.”

According to AP News, Wilmore and Williams’ flight captured the world’s attention, giving new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work” and turning “Butch and Suni” into household names. “While other astronauts had logged longer spaceflights over the decades, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or see the length of their mission expand by so much.”