NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore certainly didn’t think they’d still be on the International Space Station this long when they left Earth in June. In fact, they initially expected to stay for only eight days. And now, after the plans for their return were changed, they will be back on Earth at the end of March.
But the two stranded astronauts say that while they miss their families, they still have work to keep them busy.
“Eventually, we want to go home,” Williams said at a recent press conference. “We left our families a while ago, but we have a lot to do up here and we need to get those things done before we go.”
Holiday in space
At Christmas, an Instagram photo shows Pettit, Williams, and fellow astronauts Nick Hague and Don Pettit wearing Santa hats. and discussing Christmas on the ISS.
They floated candy canes around, showed off their canned food feast, and used microgravity to float the microphone to the next speaker.
“It’s a great time of year up here,” Williams says. “We’re going to use it with our whole ‘family’ up on the International Space Station. There’s seven of us up here, so we’re going to enjoy the company together.”
Christmas conspiracy theory?
Several people who watched the video or saw the photos wondered why the ISS had Christmas decorations.
“8 day mission that turned into months and they somehow got Christmas hats?” asked one commenter.
Other commentators pointed out that the ISS did not simply emerge in June when Williams and Wilmore arrived. In fact, Williams also spent Christmas 2006 in space.
NASA confirmed to the New York Post that the Santa hats, plus Christmas decorations, food and gifts for the crew, were delivered in late November via the SpaceX spacecraft. ISS supplies are regularly replenished via such deliveries.
February return is now March
Recently, NASA pushed Williams and Wilmore’s return to Earth back from February to the end of March.
“NASA and SpaceX evaluated various options to manage the next crew transfer, including use of a second Dragon spacecraft and manifest adjustments,” according to a NASA press release issued Dec. 17. “After careful consideration, the team decided that the launch of Crew-10 in late March, following the completion of the new Dragon spacecraft, was the best opportunity to meet NASA’s requirements and achieve the space station goal for 2025.
The delay is so the NASA and SpaceX teams can complete work on the mission’s new Dragon spacecraft. The new craft will send four crew members to the ISS – Commander Anne McClain, Commander Pilot Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Once the new crew is settled, Williams, Wilmore, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth.
But Williams and Wilmore aren’t complaining about their extended stay.
“I like everything about being up here,” Williams said in early December. “Living in space is super fun.”
The astronauts keep busy, and Williams and Wilmore help the other ISS residents with space botany studies and other research, according to NASA’s ISS blog. They have assisted in more than 60 scientific studies in their nearly six months on board, the Washington Post reports.
Here’s what you need to know about what the two astronauts are up to.
Who are the astronauts?
Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are veteran astronauts and are both naval officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998, and Wilmore since 2000. Both have plenty of experience in space.
Williams is the previous record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time by a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes), and in 2007 she ran the first marathon by any person in space.
In 2009, Wilmore piloted the space shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the ISS, and in 2014 he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to produce a tool – a ratchet wrench – in space, the first time humans had produced anything off-world .
What was their original mission in space?
Wilmore, as commander, and Williams, as pilot, traveled to the ISS in a 15-foot-wide, Boeing-made capsule called the Starliner. They were launched on June 5 and docked with the ISS on June 6. NASA hopes the Starliner will give the organization a new way to get crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it’s Boeing-made is another sign that NASA is starting to lean on the private sector for its options for human spaceflight, The New York Times reported.
Wilmore and Williams’ ISS mission was to last just eight days, during which they would test aspects of the Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. However, due to complications with the Starliner, the two astronauts are still up there.
What do astronauts eat?
Food on the ISS is a major focus, as fresh ingredients must be replenished every three months with deliveries from Earth. On November 23, the unmanned Progress 90 resupply spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS. But the latest food delivery came with an unwanted smell.
“After opening the hatch of the Progress spacecraft, the Roscosmos cosmonauts noticed an unexpected smell and observed small droplets, prompting the crew to close the Poisk hatch for the rest of the Russian segment,” a NASA representative said in a statement issued to social media.
“Space station air scrubbers and pollution sensors monitored the station’s atmosphere after the sighting, and on Sunday flight controllers determined that air quality inside the space station was at normal levels,” NASA said. “There are no concerns for the crew and as of Sunday afternoon the crew is working to open the hatch between Poisk and Progress while all other space station operations proceed as planned.”
NASA revealed that their menu includes cereal with powdered milk, pizza, shrimp cocktails, fried chicken and tuna.
The smell that accompanied the spacecraft is not the only food-related concern of late, with some publications questioning the astronauts’ thin appearance based on recent photos.
Dr. JD Polk, NASA’s chief health and medical officer, released an official statement saying Williams and Wilmore are fine. “NASA and our partners have certainly been conducting long-duration missions aboard the orbiting laboratory for decades, studying the effects of space on the human body as we prepare for exploration further into the solar system,” Polk said. “The crew’s health is regularly monitored by dedicated flight surgeons on Earth and they have an individualized diet and fitness regime to ensure they remain healthy during their expeditions.”
Williams said she weighs the same as she did when she reached the space station, in a video interview conducted Nov. 12 on the ISS.
What do the astronauts say?
The astronauts have been positive about their experience. In a live press conference in September, Williams said that although they knew their mission was planned to last only eight days, they had both “trained for a number of years” for it. They are fully qualified to remain in space for an extended period of time and to help pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will bring them home next year.
“It’s very peaceful up here,” Williams said on Sept. 13, though she added that they miss their families back on Earth.
The astronauts work on research, maintenance and data analysis during their extended stay.
“We’re having a great time here on the ISS,” Williams said at a press conference held from orbit in July. “I’m not complaining. Butch’s not complaining about us being up here for a few extra weeks.”
Wilmore and Williams answered media questions back in March.
How did they get stuck in space in the first place?
Starliner was delayed in May due to a problem with a valve in the rocket. Then engineers had to repair a helium leak. It’s all bad news for Boeing. It competes with SpaceX, which has carried astronauts to the ISS since 2020 and has made over 20 successful trips to the space station.
The Starliner finally launched atop an Atlas V rocket on June 5, but some problems followed. NASA announced that three helium leaks were identified, one of which was known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to the leak, the crew had to troubleshoot faulty steering propellers, although the craft was able to dock with the ISS.
SpaceX has also had mistakes. A Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad in 2016. In July of this year, a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak and inserted its satellites into the wrong orbit, The New York Times reported. And a Falcon 9 rocket in late August lost a first-stage booster when it tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean and caught fire.
But that said, SpaceX has more than 300 successful Falcon 9 flights to its credit.
Stuck in Space: A Timeline
- May: Starliner launch delayed due to a problem with a valve in the rocket, then a helium leak.
- June 5: Starliner is launched with Williams and Wilmore on board.
- June 6: Starliner docks with the ISS despite dealing with three helium leaks and faulty control thrusters.
- September 6: Starliner leaves the ISS and lands in New Mexico, leaving Williams and Wilmore behind.
- September 28: SpaceX Crew-9 mission launches with Haag and Gorbunov on a Dragon spacecraft.
- September 29: SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS.
- December 17: NASA announces that the launch of four crew members to the ISS will be delayed from February to the end of March.
- March 2025 and beyond: The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft returns to Earth with Williams, Wilmore, Hague and Gorbunov.