Astronaut Sunita Williams was only supposed to spend eight days in space, and today, nearly eight months later, she and fellow astronaut Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore are still stranded in space.
The two NASA astronauts headed towards the International Space Station on June 5, 2024. However, due to helium leaks and other malfunctions of the Boeing Starliner capsule, the pair wasn’t able to return back to Earth.
While the capsule returned home empty, it left NASA struggling to find a way to get Williams and Wilmore back.
Their potential return home has been delayed multiple times in recent months, with the ISS now stating that the journey isn’t expected to happen until late March.
Former President Donald Trump blamed President Biden’s administration for neglecting the two astronauts and urged Elon Musk and SpaceX to step in and “rescue them.”
“Elon will be on his way soon. Let’s hope everything goes safely,” Trump said. “Good luck, Elon!!!”
Musk took to X to answer that he will do so.
NASA decided that Starliner was unfit to return Williams and Wilmore home and tasked SpaceX to do the job instead. In fact, the SpaceX’s Crew-9 capsule is docked on the ISS. In late March, it is expected the Crew-10 capsule to be launched to the ISS before Crew-9 can leave it.
Recently, astronaut Williams was interviewed by the students at Needham High School, the same school she graduated from back in 1983.
In response to a question from the ISS, she described microgravity as feeling like swimming or flying.
“I’ve been up here long enough now that I’m trying to remember what it feels like to walk,” she explained. “I haven’t walked, sat down, or even laid down. You don’t need to—just close your eyes, and you can float wherever you are.”
She also mentioned that she and fellow astronaut Wilmore expected their space trip to last longer than the planned eight days, but never imagined it would stretch this far.
“It was a bit of a shock, honestly,” she told the students. “We knew it might be about a month, but the extended stay was definitely unexpected.”
While Williams is grateful for the chance to share her experience with everyone on Earth, she’s naturally eager to return home.
“My mother’s getting a bit older, so I try to stay in touch with her and the rest of the family as much as I can,” she shared. “I probably talk to my mom almost every day, just checking in and seeing how she’s doing. It’s definitely a different dynamic than we had expected over the past couple of months, but we’re making it work.”
In November, Williams addressed rumors about her losing a significant amount of weight, stating in an interview with New England Sports Network Clubhouse that her weight is the same as when she started the space mission. She explained that she and Wilmore have access to a treadmill and weightlifting equipment to stay in shape.
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