One of the two astronauts stuck for several months on the International Space Station said Friday that with “more time,” he and his colleague could have returned aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft as originally planned.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched in early June aboard Starliner, its first crewed test flight to the Space Station (ISS).
The ship was originally scheduled to return them to Earth eight days later, but problems with its propulsion system led NASA to question its reliability.
After weeks of testing, the space agency finally returned Boeing’s capsule empty earlier this month.
“I think we could have gotten to the point where we could have gotten back on Starliner, but we ran out of time,” Butch Wilmore said Friday during a live news conference from the ISS.
“If we had a little more time, we could have done it,” he insisted. But the requirements of the space station, particularly crew rotation, did not allow for waiting any longer before making a decision, he stressed.
The two astronauts are now due to return on a regular SpaceX mission in February, extending their mission from eight days to eight months.
– “Difficult” months –
Asked if he felt he had been “let down” by Boeing, Butch Wilmore replied emphatically: “Absolutely not.”
While admitting that the last three months of uncertainty had been “difficult”.
“But as soon as the decision was made, we supported it,” he added. “And it doesn’t matter whether I agree with it or not.”
While their mission was initially intended to focus on testing the new ship, it has evolved into a long-term mission aboard the ISS, where they are carrying out maintenance operations and scientific experiments.
“The transition wasn’t that hard,” Suni Williams said. “We both come from the Navy, we’ve both deployed before. We’re not surprised when missions change.”
She did admit to being apprehensive about telling her family, with whom she had planned to spend time in the fall and winter. “But everyone … is supportive, so that worry quickly dissipated.”
Both of them had also been to the flying lab before.
The two astronauts, who participated for several years in the development of Starliner, also said they were happy to have seen their ship return to Earth, ultimately without incident.
“We have lessons to learn and we’ll look at them,” Wilmore said. “Obviously when you have problems like we’ve had, changes have to be made. Boeing agrees with that. We all agree.”
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