Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore had been stranded on the Worldwide House Station (ISS) since early June 2024 attributable to malfunctions with their spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner. Nevertheless, they lastly made their return to Earth in March.
“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome dwelling,” 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 sudden months in house. 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 house sooner or later.
Who Is Suni Williams?
Williams was born in Ohio and raised in Massachusetts. A former check pilot within the U.S. Navy, she has accrued over 3,000 hours of flight time throughout 30 totally 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 imagine she was disenchanted about spending extra time on the house station, including, “That’s her blissful place.”
Who Is Butch Wilmore?
Wilmore, a local of Tennessee, can also be a Navy check 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 in a position to FaceTime his household a number of occasions a day from the ISS, as shared in August 2024.
“It’s so cool. He provides us lots of Earth views. I particularly like seeing the sundown,” mentioned his eldest daughter, Daryn, on the time.
Deanna added, “He simply takes it understanding the Lord’s in management, and for the reason that Lord’s in command of it, he’s content material the place he’s.”
“You simply kind of should roll with it and anticipate the sudden,” she mentioned.
Are Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Returning to House?
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 house, their our bodies will want time to get well after such a protracted length in house. They have 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.
