Stuck in space no more, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday. They hitched a ride home to end a saga that began as an eight-day trip . . . more than nine months ago.
Wilmore and Williams’ SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the early evening.
It all started with a flawed Boeing test flight last spring.
The two astronauts rocketed to the International Space Station on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, 2024. They expected to be gone just a week or so. But so many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA sent Starliner back empty. The space agency transferred the test pilots to SpaceX and pushed their homecoming to February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month to the delay.
Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members. They conducted experiments, fixed equipment, and even spacewalked. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a record among female astronauts: the most time spent spacewalking over a career.
In late January, President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate the astronauts’ return. The replacement crew’s brand-new SpaceX capsule still wasn’t ready to fly, so SpaceX subbed it with a used one.
Sunday’s arrival of their relief crew meant Wilmore and Williams could finally leave. They rode in a four-seater capsule with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov.
All told, Wilmore and Williams spent 286 days in space—278 days longer than expected. They circled Earth 4,576 times and traveled 121 million miles by the time of splashdown.
“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” radioed California’s SpaceX Mission Control.
“What a ride,” replied capsule commander Hague.
Despite their circumstances, Wilmore and Williams maintained an even keel in orbit. They cast no blame and insisted they supported NASA’s decisions.
Both retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams stressed they didn’t mind spending more time in space. But they acknowledged it was tough on their families.
Wilmore, 62, missed most of his younger daughter’s senior year of high school. His older daughter is in college. Williams, 59, had to settle for internet calls from space to her husband, mother, and other relatives.
Before reuniting with their loved ones, Wilmore and Williams must be checked out by flight surgeons as they adjust to gravity. They will be allowed to go home after a day or two.
The two astronauts’ plight captured the world’s attention. It gave new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work” and turned “Butch and Suni” into household names. While other astronauts have logged longer spaceflights, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or had their mission length grow by so much.
Wilmore’s testimony was clear in an interview with CBS reporter Mark Strassmann.
When asked about his takeaway from his nine months in space, Wilmore responded: “My feeling on all of this goes back to my faith. It’s bound in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is working out His plan and His purposes for His glory. . . . And however that plays out, I am content because I understand that.”
