Boeing Starliner returns to Earth minus astronauts

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday it’s been tough dealing with their Boeing ride leaving without them and the prospect of spending several extra months in orbit.

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It was their first public comments since last week’s return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in. Their eight-day mission is now expected to last more than eight months.

“It was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through,” Wilmore said from 260 miles (420 kilometers) up. As spacecraft pilots, “you don’t want to see it go off without you, but that’s where we wound up.”

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While they never expected to be up there nearly a year, as Starliner’s first test pilots, they knew there could be problems that might delay their return. “That’s how things go in this business,” Williams said.

Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged station crew members, chipping in on routine maintenance and experiments. Williams will take over command of the space station in a few more weeks, Wilmore told reporters during a news conference — only their second since blasting off from Florida on June 5.

The duo, along with seven others on board, welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily raising the station population to 12, a near record. And two more astronauts will fly up on SpaceX later this month; two capsule seats will be left empty for Wilmore and Williams for the return leg.

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The transition to station life was “not that hard” since both had previous stints there, said Williams, who logged two long space station stays years ago.

“This is my happy place. I love being up here in space,” she said.

Wilmore noted that if his adjustment wasn’t instantaneous, it was “pretty close.”

The astronauts said they appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home, and that it’s helped them cope with everything they’ll miss out on back home.

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Williams couldn’t help but fret for a while over losing precious face-to-face time with her mother. Wilmore won’t be around for his youngest daughter’s final year of high school. He just requested an absentee ballot on Friday so he can vote in the November election from orbit. Both stressed the importance of carrying out their civic duties as their mission goes on.

Their Starliner capsule marked the first Boeing spaceflight with astronauts. It endured a series of thruster failures and helium leaks before arriving at the space station on June 6. It landed safely in the New Mexico desert earlier this month, but Boeing’s path forward in NASA’s commercial crew program remains uncertain.

The space agency hired SpaceX and Boeing as an orbital taxi service a decade ago after the shuttles retired. SpaceX has been flying astronauts since 2020.

Williams said she’s excited to fly two different spacecraft on the same mission. “We’re testers, that’s what we do,” she said.

“We wanted to take Starliner to the completion and land it back on land at home,” she added. “But you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”

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