Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore had been stranded on the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) since early June 2024 resulting from malfunctions with their spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner. Nevertheless, they lastly made their return to Earth in March.
“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome house,” radioed SpaceX Mission Management in California as Williams and Wilmore returned to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on March 18, 2025.
WATCH: NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore exit capsule on Earth after 9 surprising months in area. pic.twitter.com/RKGjnDSNtK
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 18, 2025
Upon their return, discover out extra about Williams and Wilmore, and whether or not they have plans to return to area sooner or later.
Who Is Suni Williams?
Williams was born in Ohio and raised in Massachusetts. A former take a look at pilot within the U.S. Navy, she has gathered over 3,000 hours of flight time throughout 30 completely different plane. She was chosen as a NASA astronaut in 1998.
With 62 hours spent on 9 spacewalks, Williams set the file for essentially the most time spent spacewalking in a profession by any feminine astronaut.
In August 2024, Suni’s husband, Michael Williams, shared with The Wall Avenue Journal that he didn’t consider she was disenchanted about spending further time on the area station, including, “That’s her pleased place.”
Who Is Butch Wilmore?
Wilmore, a local of Tennessee, can be a Navy take a look at pilot who flew fight missions over Iraq and Bosnia within the Nineties. He was chosen as an astronaut by NASA in 2000.
Wilmore, who shares two teenage daughters— Daryn and Logan—together with his spouse Deanna, has been capable of FaceTime his household a number of occasions a day from the ISS, as shared in August 2024.
“It’s so cool. He offers us lots of Earth views. I particularly like seeing the sundown,” stated his eldest daughter, Daryn, on the time.
Deanna added, “He simply takes it figuring out the Lord’s in management, and because the Lord’s in charge of it, he’s content material the place he’s.”
“You simply kind of must roll with it and anticipate the surprising,” she stated.
Are Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Returning to Area?
The astronauts spent roughly 286 days on the ISS, from June 5, 2024, to March 18, 2025. Regardless of the prolonged keep, each Williams and Wilmore insisted throughout a February 13, 2025, interview with CNN that they by no means felt stranded or caught.
Whereas they haven’t but made any express feedback about returning to area, their our bodies will want time to get well after such a protracted period in area. They need to even be assessed for each psychological and bodily health earlier than contemplating one other mission, particularly given the potential dangers if issues don’t go as deliberate.
