It looks like ‘stranded’ NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will have to spend a few more days on the International Space Station, but when you’ve been up there for 280 days, what’s a few more between friends? Having missed birthdays, holidays, and even tucking into a Thanksgiving dinner in the stars, Williams and Wilmore have become the center of a media storm.
President Donald Trump called on Elon Musk to fly up there and rescue them, while the world’s richest man accused the Biden administration of using them as political pawns. NASA is finally setting out to swap Williams and Wilmore’s positions on the ISS with the Crew-10 team, although a last-minute cancelation of their launch means the planned rescue mission is now targeting a March 14 blast-off.
Although Williams and Wilmore’s original mission was only supposed to last eight days, problems with their Boeing Starliner meant the craft was flown back unmanned. The SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts docked with the ISS on September 29, and with two spare seats on their craft, they’ll take Williams and Wilmore down with them when their Crew-10 replacements eventually arrive.
Wilmore and Williams have had their return delayed (whoisinspace.com)
There have been questions about why NASA didn’t simply send up another crew to swap out the marooned pair, but now, NASA associate administrator for space operations Ken Bowersox has explained why they’ve been left aboard the ISS for 280 days (and counting). As always, it comes down to money. According to the Daily Mail, NASA’s 2024 budget only stretched to $30 billion, meaning there wasn’t enough left in the pot to send another mission up to rescue the pair.
NASA ultimately decided the funds couldn’t be stretched, with Bowersox explaining: “The SpaceX folks helped us folks helped us with a lot of options on how we would bring Sunny and Butch home on Dragon [a capsule] in a contingency.
“They’ve been so helpful this last year, coming up with those options. When it comes to adding on missions or or bringing uh a capsule home early, those were always options.”
Discussing the allegations that they were left in space for political reasons, Bowesox said although there ‘may have been conversations’ in the White House, he wasn’t part of them.
Speaking at a press conference, SpaceX Vice President Bill Gerstenmaier said that NASA leaving Williams and Wilmore up there meant the agency could “use Sunny and Butch in a very productive manner” and ‘keep the science going’. If they had brought them back earlier, it would’ve left a skeleton crew of astronauts to conduct research on the ISS.
The Daily Mail then goes on to highlight the apparent $20 million that NASA spent on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) grants and contracts during the 2024 budget period.
Elsewhere, a 2024 Inspector General report uncovered’ inappropriate use’ of award fees, including more than $77 million that NASA has reportedly paid for SLS boosters and engines contracts since 2020.
At least the end is (hopefully) in sight for Williams and Wilmore’s extended stay in space, as when the Crew-10 team gets there, there will be a two-day period of handover before they’ll finally be heading back to Earth and straight into a ‘brutal’ rehab regime.
Featured Image Credit: CBS NEWS
NASA finally reveal return date for ‘stranded’ astronauts whose 8-day mission turned into 278 days
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will soon be back on terra firma
The space saga of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore is finally coming to an end.
While the former has insisted the pair of NASA astronauts aren’t stranded aboard the International Space Station, the fact their eight-day mission has turned into a 278-day one (and counting) has us all feeling for them.
Capturing the attention of the world and even being used as political pawns by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the dynamic duo has barely been out of the news since their Boeing Crew Flight Test starliner malfunctioned and had to be sent back to Earth without them.
The POTUS had called on Musk to go and ‘rescue’ Williams and Wilmore, but finally, NASA has confirmed the date they should be back on Earth.
Although the pair will have to go through a brutal regime of rehab, we’re sure they’ll be more than happy to have finally left the confines of the ISS.
Williams and Wilmore will soon be back on Earth (NASA)
As reported by Space.com, NASA has cleared the Crew-10 relief crew that will launch inside the SpaceX Dragon on March 12.
NASA officials say that Williams and Wilmore should return to Earth on March 16, by which point, they’ll have been in space for 283 days.
While the empty Starliner headed back in September 2024, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov flew as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission with two empty seasons on their Dragon for Williams and Wilmore. All four will fly back once the relief crew reaches the ISS.
ISS program manager Dana Weigel explained: “When we looked at the situation at the time, we had a Crew-9 launch in front of us. It made sense to take the opportunity to bring Crew-9 up with just two seats and have Butch and Suni fill in, and do the rest of the long-duration mission.
Crew-10 will take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for a mission expected to last six months.
This crew is commanded and piloted by NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, who are joined by mission specialists JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
These four were due to fly on SpaceX’s brand-new Dragon, but with pressure mounting to bring back Williams and Wilmore, they’re now flying on the veteran Endurance capsule that’s already been to the ISS and back three times.
Despite pressure from Trump, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stitch said it’s typical for missions to face delays: “We’re always looking and refining the manifest. We started looking at that schedule, and at that time, early this year, late January, that’s when we finally decided we’ll move to [Endurance].”
Endurance and Crew-10 are due to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on March 12 and reach the ISS about 14 hours later.
While Williams and Wilmore’s stay is still a way off the 437 days that Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent aboard the Mir Space Station in 1994 and 1995, they’ll undoubtedly be glad to be back with their loved ones.
Featured Image Credit: MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / Contributor / Getty
‘Stranded’ NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams reveals heartbreaking ‘hardest part’ of being stuck in space
The end is finally in sight
Spending months in space might sound like the ultimate adventure, but for NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, the experience came with an unexpected emotional toll.
Williams, who was only supposed to be on an eight-day mission, has now been in space for over 270 days after a series of technical failures left her and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore stranded on the International Space Station (ISS).
Responding to a press question from the ISS on as part of a pre-departure news conference, from 6:06 in the video above: Williams revealed: “the hardest part of being stuck in space wasn’t the weightlessness or the isolation — it was the uncertainty of when she’d be able to come home”.
“The hardest part is having the folks on the ground not know exactly when we’re coming back. It’s been a rollercoaster for them – probably more so than for us,” she added.
Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, for what was supposed to be a quick trip to the ISS. But things quickly went south when the spacecraft experienced multiple technical failures.
NASA later deemed it too unsafe to bring them back, forcing the astronauts to stay aboard the station while alternative plans were made. Starliner was eventually sent back to Earth without them in September, leaving them quite literally without a ride home.
Now, after months of uncertainty, NASA has confirmed that the two astronauts will finally return to Earth on March 19 or 20. But instead of Boeing bringing them back, they’ll be catching a lift with Elon Musk’s SpaceX on the Crew-9 return flight.
SpaceX & Tesla CEO, Elon Musk (Getty Images)
The extended stay has sparked major controversy back on Earth, with Elon Musk suggesting that the delay was politically motivated. Former US President Donald Trump echoed the claims, accusing the Biden administration of deliberately holding them in space longer than necessary.
Despite the swirling speculation, Williams and Wilmore have largely avoided getting dragged into the politics of it all. When asked about the controversy, Williams simply responded, “We know what we’ve lived up here. We have the utmost respect for everyone trying to get us home.”
Wilmore, however, admitted that he and Williams have been kept in the dark regarding the politics of their situation. Referring to Musk’s claim, he said: “That’s information that we simply don’t have, so I believe him”.
For now, the focus remains on getting the astronauts back safely. After spending nearly a year in space, their long-awaited return is finally in sight.
Featured Image Credit: Joe Raedle / Staff / Getty
Brutal rehab NASA’s ‘stranded’ astronauts will face upon return to Earth after 9 months in space
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were only supposed to be on the ISS for eight days
The elongated saga of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could soon be coming to an end, as NASA is finally due to rescue the pair of astronauts. Williams and Wilmore have become the face of space after they were marooned on the International Space Station last year. Although Williams has reiterated they aren’t stranded, their eight-day mission aboard the ISS was massively extended due to a fault with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which forced it to fly back without them.
As the days tick by, Williams and Wilmore have currently been aboard the ISS for 272 days…and counting.
Williams and Wilmore are finally set to be rescued in March 2025 (NASA)
Things are finally wrapping up following calls from President Donald Trump for Elon Musk to go and get them, Musk claiming they were abandoned by the Biden administration, and the world’s richest man calling one famed astronaut an ‘idiot’.
SpaceX‘s long-awaited Crew-10 launch is scheduled for March 12, with the dynamic duo finally set to get their feet back on terra firma. After this, there are expected to be some major adjustments to life back on Earth.
Williams has explained the brutal daily regime they’re undertaking in space, involving two hours of exercise to stop help try and combat damage to their bones and muscle.
We already knew there would be a physical toll trying to return to ‘normal’ life, but speaking to DailyMail.com, doctors have explained a little more about what Williams and Wilmore might have to deal with.
As soon as Williams and Wilmore emerge from their capsule, they’re expected to be put on stretchers and rushed away for medical examination.
Dr Vinay Gupta is a pulmonologist and Air Force veteran who claims it could take up to six weeks of brutal regimens to regain their strength.
This will start as soon as they’re back on Earth and initially focus on walking, as well as flexibility and muscle strengthening. The second phase of the 45-day regime involves proprioceptive exercises and cardio reconditioning. The third and final phase is the longest, focusing on returning them to peak physical performance via ‘functional development training’.
Given that Williams and Wilmore have been exposed to the equivalent of one year’s of Earth radiation during a single week in space, Gupta added: “‘If I was their physician, I would think about a more proactive strategy for cancer screening…We want to take a different approach here, given that they had such a unique exposure history.”
With research suggesting that an astronaut aged between 30 and 50 can lose about half their strength following a six-month period in space, biomedical engineer Dr. John Jaquish goes on to explain the effects of low gravity on bone and muscle loss: “The human body needs the Earth’s gravitational pull, and in an absence of that, a lot of things are not functioning correctly.”
Despite their exercise regime, Gupta added: “The reality is, they’re effectively getting a fraction of the sort of exercise that we all take for granted just by walking in [Earth’s] gravity.
“Invariably, despite them doing all the right things (which I know they are), you’re going to see a decrease in muscle mass and strength — no question.”
Although most astronauts can get back to their pre-mission fitness after just 45 days, it can sometimes take months or even years to return to where they were.
Featured Image Credit: NASA
‘Stranded’ NASA astronaut says Elon Musk is wrong on $800,000,000 mission to destroy International Space Station
Elon Musk suggests deorbiting the International Space Station, but is it the right time to do it?
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has suggested deorbiting the International Space Station within two years.
NASA has plans to crash the space station into the Pacific Ocean, which they aim to be done by the end of this decade, of which they have awarded a contract for $843 million to Musk’s SpaceX.
Although NASA have stated they want to deorbit the space station by the end of the decade, Musk is now suggesting he would like to deorbit the ISS within as little as two years.
As part of the mission to bring down the ISS, SpaceX will be developing a U.S. Deorbit vehicle that will be used to crash the space station back down to earth, where following a controlled re-entry, it should land safely in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.
While Musk has publicly stated that the International Space Station “has very little incremental utility.” stranded NASA astronaut Sunita Williams disagrees, claiming now isn’t the right time to get rid of the space station. Not only has Williams argued that the ISS shouldn’t be destroyed before 2030, she has also stated, “This place is ticking. It’s just really amazing. So I would say we’re actually in our prime right now.”.
Captain Sunita Williams (Joe Scarnici / Getty)
Contrary to Musk’s statement about the station having served its purpose, Williams has suggested that NASA would be wasting tax payers money by not allowing the “word class science that this laboratory is capable of” to continue.
Suntia Williams is one of two stranded NASA astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station. Williams and her fellow stranded astronaut Butch Wilmore were delayed in retuning home to earth following a technical glitch in Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but are expected to finally return home at the end of this month.
NASA’s Boeing CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft (Paul Hennessy / Getty)
The ISS was originally launched back in November 1998 and has since grown to an impressive 16 modules, weighing more than a whopping 4,30,000 kg.
Due to the sheer size of the space station, the mission requires careful planning and precision to make sure the stations orbit is slowly lowered and steered away from populated areas and into the ocean.
Elon Musk might be looking to take the space station out of commission within the next two years, but with so much planning and development required to pull it off, and Suntia Williams calling for him to hold off, there’s every chance the ISS could still be up in space until closer to NASA’s 2030 deadline.