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Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Return to Earth After Being Stuck successful Space for 9 Months
Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore are getting reacquainted with gravity 1 measurement astatine a time.
In fact, the astronauts—who returned to Earth March 18 aft an extended nine-month stay astatine the International Space Station—didn’t physically measurement disconnected SpaceX Dragon capsule upon touchdown successful Florida. Instead, they were wheeled disconnected the spacecraft connected stretchers.
While the signifier whitethorn look unusual, it’s really modular NASA protocol for each returning abstraction travelers arsenic they typically can’t locomotion close distant upon their return.
“A batch of them don't privation to beryllium brought retired connected a stretcher,” erstwhile NASA elder idiosyncratic John DeWitt told Live Science, “but they're told they person to be.”
Earlier successful the astronauts’ ISS stay—which was lone meant to past 8 days—Williams described the carnal effects of surviving without gravity arsenic she spoke to students astatine Needham High School successful Massachusetts, her alma mater.
“I've been up present agelong capable close present I've been trying to retrieve what it's similar to walk,” she told the students successful January, per CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. “I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down. You don't person to. You tin conscionable adjacent your eyes and interval wherever you are close here.”
NASA VIDEO FRAME GRAB HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Williams and Wilmore’s June 2024 ngo was extended owed to assorted method issues with the pair’s Boeing Starliner, starring NASA to nonstop the shuttle backmost to Earth without its crew. While Williams described the hold arsenic “a small spot of a shock,” the astronaut shared that she was inactive managing to enactment adjacent to her loved ones backmost home.
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“I speech to my ma practically each day,” she explained during the pupil Q&A. “Just cheque successful with her and telephone her and spot however she's doing. So it's conscionable a small spot antithetic narration than we had perchance planned connected for the past mates of months. But we're managing.”
For much connected Suni Williams and Butch Willmore’s abstraction journey, support reading.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images
June 2024
Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore launched into abstraction connected Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft June 5, 2024, with plans to enactment astatine the International Space Station for 8 days. Shortly aft their launch, the astronauts reported a “stable and isolated leak” successful their propulsion-related plumbing, per the Associated Press.
While the leak remained unchangeable passim their question to the ISS, 4 much leaks emerged and 5 thrusters—devices utilized for acceleration—failed. They were capable to safely dock astatine the ISS, with the knowing that their ngo would apt past longer than 8 days.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
August 2024
Two months aft their faulty launch, NASA came guardant with the debacle of the 2 astronauts stuck successful space. At the time, the abstraction enactment was inactive trying to find whether the Starliner would beryllium acceptable for a instrumentality to space, and Boeing maintained astatine the clip it should person been, with the institution telling E! News successful a statement, “If NASA decides to alteration the mission, we volition instrumentality the actions indispensable to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return.”
Meanwhile, erstwhile NASA authoritative Scott Hubbard quelled nationalist interest implicit Wilmore and Williams’ predicament, telling the Associated Press the astronauts—who person each been to abstraction earlier connected anterior missions—are lone “kind of stuck,” emphasizing that they person “plenty of supplies and enactment to do.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
August 2024
After NASA confirmed that Williams and Wilmore would instrumentality to Earth connected a SpaceX ngo successful February oregon March, alternatively than attempting to hole the Starliner, their families spoke out.
Wilmore’s woman Deanna Wilmore told WVLT successful August of her family’s predicament, “You conscionable benignant of person to rotation with it and expect the unexpected."
Meanwhile, Williams’ hubby Michael shared that helium didn’t deliberation his woman would beryllium unsettled by spending much clip successful space, telling The Wall Street Journal, “That's her blessed place.”
Nasa/UPI/Shutterstock
November 2024
Just earlier celebrating six months successful space, Williams and Wilmore shared penetration into their Thanksgiving celebrations aboard the ISS.
“We person a clump of nutrient that we’ve packed distant that is Thanksgiving-ish,” Wiliams told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt from the ISS connected Nov. 27. “Some smoked turkey, immoderate cranberry, pome cobbler, greenish beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes.”
Williams besides reiterated that she and Wilmore were doing conscionable good amid their extended enactment successful space.
“People are disquieted astir us, really, don’t interest astir us,” she added. “We’re feeling good, moving out, eating right. We person a batch of amusive up here, too.”
Manoj Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
December 2024
After the astronauts celebrated six months successful space, NASA confirmed they would beryllium staying adjacent longer than antecedently thought. Although the enactment had primitively planned for the duo to instrumentality successful February, delays successful the SpaceX ngo that would retrieve them led their enactment to beryllium extended to March oregon April, NASA said astatine the time.
(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
February 2025
In February, President Donald Trump claimed successful a Truth Social station that Williams and Wilmore had been “virtually abandoned” successful abstraction amid their eight-day-turned-eight-month journey. However, pursuing the headline-making comment, the astronauts pushed backmost connected the president’s claim.
“We don't consciousness abandoned,” Wilmore insisted to CNN’s Anderson Cooper successful a Feb. 13 interview. "We don't consciousness stuck. We don't consciousness stranded. We travel prepared. We travel committed.”
Williams interjected during the interrogation that the brace were “doing beauteous darn good, actually.”
“We've got food, we've got clothes, we person large unit members up here,” she continued. “Of course, it was a small spot longer enactment than we had expected, but some of america person trained to unrecorded and enactment connected the International Space Station and I deliberation we've made the astir of it.”
During the interview, Wilmore and Williams besides confirmed they’d beryllium returning to Earth erstwhile SpaceX launches its Dragon capsule March 12.
“They'll travel here, rendezvous and dock," Wilmore explained. “We'll bash a turnover for astir a week and we volition instrumentality connected oregon astir the 19th of March.”
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images
March 2025
Just days earlier her begetter was acceptable to return, Wilmore’s girl Daryn Wilmore spoke retired connected her father’s clip successful space—and however she felt astir the delays successful his instrumentality to Earth.
“It’s a spot mentally exhausting,” she told the Daily Mail in a March 6 interview. “There's been issues. There's been negligence. And that's the crushed wherefore this has conscionable kept getting delayed. There's conscionable been contented aft contented aft issue.”
Daryn expressed that her begetter was “bummed,” but different doing good connected the ISS, adding, “My dada is precise resilient.”
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