Days after NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth from space, the duo thanked US President Donald Trump and SpaceX owner Elon Musk for their involvement in getting them back down.
In their first interview since returning to Earth to Fox News’ America’s Newsroom, Wilmore said he was grateful to Trump and Musk for their involvement in their space program.
"I have no reason not to believe anything they say, because they've earned my trust," he said. "And for that, I am grateful that our national leaders actually 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.
"And based on the past and what we see now with them doing that it's not just refreshing, it's empowering. It's strengthening."
“I am just glad that they are involved and they take notice. You know, our situation… I have mentioned before… maybe it wasn’t the perfect situation, but it allowed a lot of people, including the President and Elon to look at what’s going on at the International Space Station, and take it very seriously…” said Williams.
Speaking about the 286-day-long ordeal, Butch emphasised that multiple shortcoming contributed to the delay.
“Is Boeing to blame? Are they culpable? Sure! Is NASA to blame? Are they culpable? Sure! Everybody has a piece in this because it did not come off. There were some shortcomings in tests, shortcomings in preparations that we did not foresee. Could you point fingers? I don’t want to point fingers. I hope nobody wants to point fingers. We don’t want to look back and say – shame, shame, shame. We want to look forward and say – let’s rectify what we have learnt…" said Wilmore.
Wilmore and Williams were supposed to be back on Earth in eight days when they launched into space on June 5, 2024 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. However, when they docked the International Space Station on June 6, the Starliner’s thruster malfunctioned and NASA said the technical issue made it unsafe for the astronauts to return on their planned date.
As their delayed return turned into months, their absence became an international spectacle. Some pointed fingers at the Biden administration, while others questioned the competency of aerospace giant Boeing.
On 7 March, President Trump promised to bring them back to Earth with the help of his SpaceX sidekick Musk, with the pair departing the ISS and safely splashing down off the coast of Florida on 8 March.
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