Just before NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams headed to the Starliner spacecraft on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral in Florida in June last year, they will have probably said something to their family and friends along the lines of: “See you next week.”
That’s because their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) was scheduled to last eight days in what was the first crewed flight of the Starliner. But the mission took an unexpected turn when the spacecraft developed several technical issues on the way to the ISS. Fortunately, the capsule managed to dock, and Wilmore and Williams were able to safely board the ISS. However, after weeks of trying to resolve the issues, it was eventually decided that, out of an abundance of caution, the Starliner would be brought home empty.
This left officials having to decide exactly how to get Wilmore and Williams back to Earth.
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After much deliberation, it was eventually decided that the pair would have to hitch a ride on the returning SpaceX Crew Dragon carrying the Crew-9 astronauts, in February. But then, in December, NASA announced that Crew-9 would not be coming home until March at the earliest.
In one of the most remarkable astronaut missions of recent years, Wilmore and Williams’ orbital adventure has now lasted 233 days — 225 more than originally planned.
“You have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity,” Williams said of the unexpected situation back in September. “We’re actually excited to fly in two different spacecraft … We’re testers”
Determined to stay upbeat about everything, Wilmore commented that he and Williams were “very fortunate” to be able to remain on the space station for an extended period and to have a back-up option in the pipeline, pointing out how there were “many cases in the past where there have not been other options.”
Notably, the pair are staying in orbit for way longer than most astronaut missions to the ISS, which usually last around six months, with their trip on course to span nine months.
Still, they have plenty of scientific research to be getting on with, and in a workspace that has window views like no other.