After nine months aboard the International Space Station, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are back on Earth and opened up in an exclusive Fox News interview with Bill Hemmer. Speaking from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astronauts reflected on their extended mission, their reactions to the delay, and the bigger picture of space exploration and national service.
"My first thought was we've just got to pivot," Williams said, recalling the moment they learned they’d be staying longer. "If our spacecraft was going to go home based on decisions made here, and we were going to be up there 'til February, I was like, 'Let's make the best of it.'" Williams admitted she was a little excited, expressing her love for space and witnessing scientific experiments firsthand. "I'm honored to be a little part of it," she added.
Wilmore said he focused on the mission and the national goals it represented. "It's about what this human spaceflight program is about. It's our national goals," he told Hemmer. "Did I think about not being there for my daughter's high school year? Of course. But… we've trained them to be resilient, my daughters and my family." He emphasized that there are no guarantees in test flights, saying, "We don't know what's going to happen. Focus on the mission. Certainly [we] deal with the personal side of it, but I can't let that interfere with what I'm called to do at the moment."
Their eight-day mission stretched to over 280 days when technical issues with the Boeing Starliner delayed their return. NASA deemed the return unsafe and sent the spacecraft back to Earth unmanned in September. Still, neither astronaut placed blame solely on Boeing. "Spaceflight is hard," Wilmore said. "This is new technology… it's tough." Williams agreed and said she wouldn't say Boeing "failed" them.
Wilmore rejected the idea that they were “stranded.” He said everyone shares responsibility for what happened. "'They' failed you. Who? Who’s ‘they’?" he said. "There are many questions that, as the commander of CFT, I didn't ask, so I'm culpable... Is Boeing to blame? Are they culpable? Sure. Is NASA to blame? Are they culpable? Sure. Everybody has a piece in this… There were some shortcomings in tests and shortcomings in preparations that we did not foresee." He added, "I don't want to point fingers… I want to look forward."
A NASA and SpaceX rescue mission brought them home on March 18. The mission drew attention to Elon Musk and SpaceX, and Hemmer asked what Wilmore and Williams would say to Musk and former President Trump, who criticized the Biden administration's handling of their return. "I respect you, I trust you. You’ve given me no reason not to trust you, either one of them…" Wilmore said. "I am grateful that our national leaders actually are coming in and taking part in our human spaceflight program... it's not just refreshing, it's empowering."
Williams agreed, saying she was glad to see national leaders "taking notice." Their extended time in orbit helped many see the importance of what happens aboard the ISS. "[It allows them to] understand that our involvement as a country, as a spacefaring nation, is really important throughout the world… It sets an example, and it shows our ability to be able to do the hard things."
Wilmore and Williams will speak further about their mission during a postflight news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT on March 31 from NASA’s Johnson Space Center.