Known around the world under the name of stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams reached the brand six months in space on December 5 with two others to do.
The pair entered orbit on June 5, the first to set up the new Boeing Starliner team on what was supposed to be a week -long test flight. They arrived at the international space station the next day, only after overcoming a cascade of propulsion chess and helium leaks. NASA has considered the capsule too risky for a return flight, it will therefore be February before their long and tried mission is coming to an end.
While NASA managers bristle to call them trapped or blocked, the two retired navy captains have shrugged from the description of their fate. They insist that they are good and accept their fate. Mr. Wilmore considers it as a detour: “We are just on a different path.”
“I like it all about the place here,” Williams told December 4 in a primary school named for her in Needham, Massachusetts, her hometown. “Living in space is super fun.”
The two astronauts lived there before, so they quickly became full members of the crew, helping to scientific experiences and tasks such as repairing a broken toilet, vacuum cleaner in ventilation mouths and plant watering. Ms. Williams took office as a commander of the station in September.
“The state of mind goes very far,” said Wilmore in response to a question from first -year students in Nashville in October. He is from Mont Juliette, Tennessee. “I do not consider these situations in life as downers.”
Boeing piloted its empty Starliner capsule house in September, and NASA moved Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams to a SpaceX flight which is not due before the end of February. Two other astronauts were hit to make room and to stay at a six -month calendar for crew rotations.
Like other station crews, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams trained for space balls and all the unexpected situations that could arise.
“When the crews increase, they know that they could be there up to a year,” said NASA associate administrator Jim Free.
NASA astronaut, Frank Rubio, discovered this at the hard time when the Russian space agency had to rush for him and two replacement cosmonauts in 2023, pushing their six -month mission to just a year.
Boeing said this week that Mr. Wilmore's contribution and Ms. Williams had been “invaluable” in the current investigation of what was wrong. The company said in a statement that she was preparing for the next Starliner flight, but refused to comment on the moment he could recover.
NASA also has praise for the pair.
“Whether it is luck or whether it was the selection, they were great for this mission,” said NASA Health and doctor, Dr. JD Polk, during an interview with the Associated Press.
In addition to everything else, Ms. Williams had to face “rumors”, as she calls them, serious weight loss. She insists that her weight is the same as the launch day, which Polk confirms.
During a chat student on December 4, Ms. Williams said that she did not have much appetite when she arrived in space for the first time. But now she is “super hungry” and eats three meals a day plus snacks, while recording the two hours required for daily exercise.
Ms. Williams, a distance runner, uses the treadmill of the space station to support races in her country of origin. She participated in the Falmouth road race of 7 miles from CAD COD in August. She also ran the 2007 Boston marathon there.
She has a New England Patriots shirt with her for match days, as well as a spring training shirt of the Red Sox.
“I hope I will be at home before it happens-but you never know it,” she said in November. The husband Michael Williams, a retired federal marshal and former aviator of the navy, takes care of their dogs at their homes in Houston.
As for Mr. Wilmore, he misses the last year of his youngest daughter in high school and the theatrical productions of his eldest daughter at university.
“We cannot deny that being separated unexpectedly, especially during the holidays when the whole family gathered, brings increased aspirations to share time and events,” said his wife, Deanna Wilmore, AP in a text this week. Her husband “has worse than we” because he is confined to the space station and can only connect by video for short periods.
“We are certainly impatiently awaiting February !!” She wrote.
This story was reported by the Associated Press.
