 (1).png)
8 hours ago
1
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Return to Earth After Being Stuck in Space for 9 Months
Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore are getting reacquainted with gravity one step at a time.
In fact, the astronauts—who returned to Earth March 18 after an extended nine-month stay at the International Space Station—didn’t physically step off SpaceX Dragon capsule upon touchdown in Florida. Instead, they were wheeled off the spacecraft on stretchers.
While the practice may seem unusual, it’s actually standard NASA protocol for all returning space travelers as they typically can’t walk right away upon their return.
“A lot of them don't want to be brought out on a stretcher,” former NASA senior scientist John DeWitt told Live Science, “but they're told they have to be.”
Earlier in the astronauts’ ISS stay—which was only meant to last eight days—Williams described the physical effects of living without gravity as she spoke to students at Needham High School in Massachusetts, her alma mater.
“I've been up here long enough right now I've been trying to remember what it's like to walk,” she told the students in January, per CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. “I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down. You don't have to. You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here.”
NASA VIDEO FRAME GRAB HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Williams and Wilmore’s June 2024 mission was extended due to various technical issues with the pair’s Boeing Starliner, leading NASA to send the shuttle back to Earth without its crew. While Williams described the extension as “a little bit of a shock,” the astronaut shared that she was still managing to stay close to her loved ones back home.
dts News Agency Germany Nasa/Shutterstock
“I talk to my mom practically every day,” she explained during the student Q&A. “Just check in with her and call her and see how she's doing. So it's just a little bit different relationship than we had potentially planned on for the last couple of months. But we're managing.”
For more on Suni Williams and Butch Willmore’s space journey, keep reading.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images
June 2024
Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore launched into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft June 5, 2024, with plans to stay at the International Space Station for eight days. Shortly after their launch, the astronauts reported a “stable and isolated leak” in their propulsion-related plumbing, per the Associated Press.
While the leak remained stable throughout their travel to the ISS, four more leaks emerged and five thrusters—devices used for acceleration—failed. They were able to safely dock at the ISS, with the understanding that their mission would likely last longer than eight days.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
August 2024
Two months after their faulty launch, NASA came forward with the debacle of the two astronauts stuck in space. At the time, the space organization was still trying to determine whether the Starliner would be fit for a return to space, and Boeing maintained at the time it should have been, with the company telling E! News in a statement, “If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the actions necessary to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return.”
Meanwhile, former NASA official Scott Hubbard quelled public concern over Wilmore and Williams’ predicament, telling the Associated Press the astronauts—who have each been to space before on prior missions—are only “kind of stuck,” emphasizing that they
have “plenty of supplies and work to do.”
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
August 2024
After NASA confirmed that Williams and Wilmore would return to Earth on a SpaceX mission in February or March, rather than attempting to fix the Starliner, their families spoke out.
Wilmore’s wife Deanna Wilmore told WVLT in August of her family’s predicament, “You just sort of have to roll with it and expect the unexpected."
Meanwhile, Williams’ husband Michael shared that he didn’t think his wife would be unsettled by spending more time in space, telling The Wall Street Journal, “That's her happy place.”
Nasa/UPI/Shutterstock
November 2024
Just before celebrating six months in space, Williams and Wilmore shared insight into their Thanksgiving celebrations aboard the ISS.
“We have a bunch of food that we’ve packed away that is Thanksgiving-ish,” Wiliams told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt from the ISS on Nov. 27. “Some smoked turkey, some cranberry, apple cobbler, green beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes.”
Williams also reiterated that she and Wilmore were doing just fine amid their extended stay in space.
“People are worried about us, really, don’t worry about us,” she added. “We’re feeling good, working out, eating right. We have a lot of fun up here, too.”
Manoj Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
December 2024
After the astronauts celebrated six months in space, NASA confirmed they would be staying even longer than previously thought. Although the organization had originally planned for the duo to return in February, delays in the SpaceX mission that would retrieve them led their stay to be extended to March or April, NASA said at the time.
(Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
February 2025
In February, President Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that Williams and Wilmore had been “virtually abandoned” in space amid their eight-day-turned-eight-month journey. However, following the headline-making comment, the astronauts pushed back on the president’s claim.
“We don't feel abandoned,” Wilmore insisted to CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a Feb. 13 interview. "We don't feel stuck. We don't feel stranded. We come prepared. We come committed.”
Williams interjected during the interview that the pair were “doing pretty darn good, actually.”
“We've got food, we've got clothes, we have great crew members up here,” she continued. “Of course, it was a little bit longer stay than we had expected, but both of us have trained to live and work on the International Space Station and I think we've made the most of it.”
During the interview, Wilmore and Williams also confirmed they’d be returning to Earth when SpaceX launches its Dragon capsule March 12.
“They'll come here, rendezvous and dock," Wilmore explained. “We'll do a turnover for about a week and we will return on or about the 19th of March.”
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images
March 2025
Just days before her father was set to return, Wilmore’s daughter Daryn Wilmore spoke out on her father’s time in space—and how she felt about the delays in his return to Earth.
“It’s a bit mentally exhausting,” she told the Daily Mail in a March 6 interview. “There's been issues. There's been negligence. And that's the reason why this has just kept getting delayed. There's just been issue after issue after issue.”
Daryn expressed that her father was “bummed,” but otherwise doing well on the ISS, adding, “My dad is very resilient.”
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
English (US) ·