NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore discuss voting from the International Space Station. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
Boeing's Starliner astronauts are in the final stages of their unexpectedly long stay in low-Earth orbit — and they're putting to rest rumors of “stranded astronauts.”
NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted off to the International Space Station (ISS) last June on the first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Their mission in orbit was expected to last about 10 days, but Starliner experienced engine problems during rendezvous and docking. That led to a massive investigation by NASA and Boeing on Earth as the space agency decided what steps to take next.
Starliner eventually landed on Earth without a crew, and after some changes to the astronaut roster, Williams and Wilmore were included on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS in late September. Williams and Wilmore's inclusion on Crew-9 extended their time in space until Crew-10 arrived at the end of Crew-9's six-month rotation.
Since then, headlines lamenting the plight of the “stranded astronauts” have come and gone in the media. Throughout it all, Williams and Wilmore have continued their regular duties aboard the ISS — including Williams setting a record for the most cumulative spacewalk time by a woman.
The pair's recent situation has gained more attention after President Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of “effectively abandoning” the two astronauts and publicly called on SpaceX CEO and close Trump adviser Elon Musk to come to their aid.
In December, NASA announced that it was pushing back the launch of Crew 10 to no earlier than “late March” to complete work on the new Dragon spacecraft being developed for the mission. The delay further delayed the return of Williams and Wilmore, who will return home with the two astronauts who launched on Crew 9 Dragon, NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
New delays in production of the new Dragon for Crew-10 have now prompted NASA to replace the spacecraft with one that could be ready sooner. The announcement comes two weeks after a social media exchange between President Trump and Musk, who echoed the president’s misleading rhetoric about “stranded astronauts.” Both Williams and Wilmore hope that rhetoric will change.
In a recent interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, they explained that sometimes mission extensions (even those that increase the stay in space from 10 days to 10 months) are an integral part of the job.
“We come prepared, we come committed. That's what your human spaceflight program is: It prepares for every contingency we can imagine, and we prepare for it,” Wilmore told Cooper. “We don't feel abandoned. We don't feel stranded. We don't feel stranded.”
In fact, Wilmore noted, all astronauts aboard the ISS can return to Earth in an emergency. “We never expect to return, just specifically for us or anyone else, unless it’s a medical issue or something completely outside of [normal] circumstances,” he added.
“Help us change the rhetoric,” Wilmore asked Cooper. “Let's change it to 'prepared and committed.'”
Both astronauts have spent extended periods of time aboard the ISS during previous missions, and both say they enjoy their time in space during
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