NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams recently broke their silence about their extended nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
In a joint Fox News interview, the pair shared insights into the technical and personal challenges behind their 288-day stay, which far exceeded their planned eight-day trip. They took partial responsibility for the delays while addressing broader issues involving NASA and Boeing.
Wilmore, the mission commander, admitted he missed key questions before their June 5 launch on Boeingโs Starliner spacecraft. โThere are things I did not ask that I should have asked,โ he said, reflecting on overlooked warning signs.
He stressed that accountability is shared, noting, โEverybody has a piece in this because it did not come off,โ pointing to inadequate preflight testing by NASA and Boeing.
Originally set to return after eight days, the astronauts faced technical glitches with Starliner, leading to their return on March 18.
Despite public outcry and political claims, Wilmore and Williams firmly denied feeling stranded. โIn certain respects we were stuck, sure. But in the way itโs been framed..that we were left and forgotten..we were nowhere near that at all,โ Wilmore clarified.
Political Claims and Mission Realities
President Donald Trump claimed the Biden administration โabandonedโ the astronauts, a narrative Wilmore neither fully endorsed nor dismissed. โI have no reason not to believe anything they say,โ he said of Trump and Elon Musk, praising their involvement as โrefreshingโ and โempoweringโ for U.S. spaceflight.
In February, NASA credited Trumpโs push for revising the return schedule, with Acting Administrator Janet Petro confirming his directive to NASA and SpaceX sped up the splashdown off Floridaโs coast.
Williams, meanwhile, embraced the extended stay with pragmatism. โIf this was the destiny, if our spacecraft was going to go home based on decisions made by NASA and we were going to be up there until February, I was like okay, letโs make the best of it,โ she said.
Wilmore admitted the news hit harder personally, citing his daughterโs high school year, but emphasized national goals over personal sacrifice.
The duo rejected notions that Boeing failed them, highlighting Starlinerโs complexity and potential. โThis is the most robust spacecraft we have in the inventory. Thereโs nothing else that can do everything Starliner can,โ Wilmore said, while Williams called its systems integration โcomplicated.โ
They avoided blaming any single party, despite months of criticism from figures like Trump and Musk, who accused the Biden administration of political delays.
The missionโs political spotlight began in January when Trump claimed he tasked Musk with retrieving the astronauts. NASAโs Bethany Stevens later credited Trumpโs intervention, but Wilmore and Williams kept their focus on the mission itself.
