Though their roughly weeklong Boeing Starliner test flight last June pivoted into an unexpected 286-day stay in low-Earth orbit, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams still support the oft-criticized spacecraft.
In fact, Wilmore said Starliner has the most capability compared with the SpaceX Dragon and NASA’s Orion capsule, considering Starliner’s ability to maneuver automatically and manually in all phases of flight. And he said Starliner could perform a barrel roll over the top of the International Space Station.
“It is very, very capable. If we can figure out a couple of very important primary issues with the thrusters and the helium system, Starliner is ready to go,” said Wilmore. He and Williams are scheduled to discuss the spacecraft Wednesday with Boeing program managers and senior chief engineers.
Monday afternoon, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Wilmore, Williams and Nick Hague talked about their months aboard the ISS during an hourlong news conference from Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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Wilmore and Williams’ mission became politically charged after SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden’s administration of “stranding” them aboard the outpost after Starliner’s malfunctions. NASA has said that Wilmore and Williams always had a way home, via a Dragon docked to the space station, and the agency decided to delay their return and attach them to a regular station rotational mission.
Their marathon mission ended two weeks ago, when Wilmore, Williams, Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov reentered Earth’s atmosphere inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and splashed down off Florida’s Gulf Coast offshore from Tallahassee. Gorbunov did not participate in Monday’s Crew-9 news conference because of his travel schedule, NASA reported.
A timeline of events:
All told, Williams and Wilmore traveled more than 121 million miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth, a NASA press release said.
Wilmore blamed himself in part for Starliner’s test flight woes.
“There were questions that, as the commander of the spacecraft, that I should have asked. And I did not. At the time, I didn’t know I needed to. And maybe you could call that hindsight. But I’ll start and point the finger, and I’ll blame me,” he said.
Wilmore also said responsibility lies with Boeing and NASA, “all the way up and down the chain.”
Asked if political narratives linked with their mission are good for NASA and the space industry, Williams said it is an honor that people are paying are attention. She said “good news” and “bad news” about their mission aboard the ISS is just news, and it is good for space exploration.
“We also have bigger goals of exploring our solar system, going back to the moon, going out to Mars. And to get people understanding that it is hard. It is difficult. And what we do up there is really awesome,” Williams said.
“And I think, at least, that we had a little bit of that that came with the interest in this mission. And if we can perpetuate that and tell people a little bit more and have the opportunity, the forum to do that, I’m very thankful for that,” she said.
Thursday, NASA announced the four members of Crew-11: NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (commander) and Mike Fincke (pilot), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui (mission specialist) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov (mission specialist). They are expected to launch to the ISS aboard a Dragon capsule in July, at the earliest.
Williams’ video message for Florida Tech from ISS
Astronaut and Florida Tech alumna Sunita Williams ’95 M.S. sent us a special message from the ISS!
As NASA Expedition 72 Commander @Astro_Suni prepares for her return to Earth, she reminds all Panthers to dream big and embrace challenges. https://t.co/4koAZDEg0f
Williams earned a master of science degree in engineering management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. NASA selected her to become an astronaut three years later, in 1998.
In March, she delivered a video message to the Florida Tech community while floating inside the ISS.
“As you may be aware, I’ve been here on board a bit longer than was originally planned back in June,” Williams said, hair streaming outward in microgravity.
“But I’ve always said: ‘ISS is my happy place.’ So it’s been natural for me to make the most of being here. There are new experiments to conduct, systems to maintain, and challenges to tackle,” she said.
“Every challenge we overcome makes space exploration safer and more efficient, bringing us closer to an era where space transportation is as common as air travel,” she said.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Boeing astronauts Butch, Suni still support Starliner spacecraft, despite its malfunctions
Reporting by Rick Neale, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
