NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore finally reached the Earth after spending 286 days at the International Space Station (ISS), after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that was supposed to bring them back after eight days experienced technical issues.
The duo splashed down off the coast of Florida on March 18 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, nine months after being stranded in space. US President Donald Trump and Musk had long blamed the previous Biden administration for leaving the astronauts stranded for “political reasons".
Hours after the astronauts returned, the White House once again blamed Biden’s “lack of urgency" to bring home the stranded astronauts. However, the astronauts themselves have ruled out politics as the reason behind their prolonged stay.
More than a week after their return, the astronauts finally broke their silence on who is to blame for their extended stay in space.
In their first interview since their return to Earth, the veteran astronauts told Fox News about their reactions to learning that they would be staying at the ISS longer than initially planned, the future of space exploration and how they spent their time in orbit.
“My first thought was we’ve just got to pivot," Williams told Fox News co-anchor Bill Hemmer. “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.,’" Wilmore said he thought about his family the moment he heard about the extended stay.
Both astronauts dismissed the notion that Boeing “failed" them, with Butch Wilmore saying that everyone, including himself, was culpable to some extent for not asking necessary questions and oversights in preparations.
“There are many questions that, as the commander of CFT, I didn’t ask, so I’m culpable… I’ll admit that to the nation. There are things that I did not ask that I should have asked. I didn’t know at the time that I needed to ask them, but, in hindsight… some of the signals were there," Wilmore said.
“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. The astronaut further said he did not want to “point fingers" and instead wanted to “look forward" and learn from past mistakes.
During their approach to the ISS, five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft carrying Williams and Wilmore failed, which extended their trip from days to months in space.
Wilmore said he was grateful to Trump and Musk for their involvement in the space programme. “I have no reason not to believe anything they say because they’ve earned my trust. And for that, I am grateful that our national leaders are coming in and taking part in our human space flight program, which we see is hugely important global significance, and they take an active role," he said.
“I think it’s a good thing for our nation when the national leaders, especially something that’s high visibility, are involved in the process. I’m grateful for that," Wilmore continued.
Sunita Williams also echoed that sentiment, saying she is glad to see them “involved" and “taking notice." She added that their nine-month orbit allowed a lot of people, including Musk and Trump, to see what is happening at the ISS and “take it very seriously."
