‘We weren’t stuck’: NASA astronauts give first interview after returning to Earth

Two NASA astronauts have spoken out for the first time since returning to Earth after their week-long test flight turned into a nine-month space stay.

One of NASA’s two rescued astronauts said he doesn’t want to “point fingers” after the pair’s week-long test flight turned into a nine-month space stay, in their first interview since returning to Earth two weeks ago.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams splashed down off the coast of Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18 after a 17-hour-journey from the International Space Station (ISS). The veteran astronauts had blasted off in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner, which developed propulsion issues during its first crewed flight and was deemed unfit for their voyage back home.

Speaking to Fox News ahead of a joint press conference on Monday, Mr Wilmore hit back at the narrative that the astronauts were “stuck” or “abandoned” on the ISS.

“Any of those adjectives, they’re very broad in their definition,” Mr Wilmore told the outlet.

“So in certain respects we were stuck, in certain respects, maybe we were stranded, but based on how they were couching this, that we were left and forgotten in orbit, we were nowhere near any of that at all.

“Stuck? OK, we didn’t get to come home the way we planned so in one definition we’re stuck. But in the big scheme of things, we weren’t stuck. We planned and trained.”

Mr Wilmore also addressed the claim that “they failed you”.

“Who? Who’s they?” he questioned before admitting “everybody had a piece” in the mission not succeeding as planned.

Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore spoke to Fox News after returning home two weeks ago. Picture: Fox News

“There are many questions that as the commander of CFT (crew flight test), I didn’t ask. So I’m culpable. I’ll admit that to the nation. There’s things that I did not ask that I should have asked. I didn’t know at the time I needed to ask them. But in hindsight, the signal, some of the signals were there.

“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 preparation that we did not foresee.”

But he insisted he doesn’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’ve learned and let’s make the future even more productive and better. That’s the way that I look at it. I think the way the nation should look at it.”

NASA has denied Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams were “stranded”.

“We always had a lifeboat, a way for them to come home,” Steve Stich, head of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told CNN.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov splashed down off the coast of Florida aboard a SpaceX Dragon. Picture: Keegan Barber/NASA/AP

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had spent over nine months in space. Picture: Keegan Barber/NASA/AP

First reactions to delayed mission

Earlier in the interview, Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore revealed their first reactions to learning their return home would be delayed.

“My first thought was we’ve just got to pivot,” Ms Williams said.

“If our spacecraft was going to go home based on decisions made here, and we were going to be up there ‘til February, I was like, ‘Let’s make the best of it.’”

Ms Williams said she was “really excited” about living in space and enjoyed seeing how “the space station had changed since I was there last.”

“It’s rocking, it’s moving. There’s so many science experiments that are going on up there. And just, you know, honoured to be a little part of it,” she added.

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke reporters during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Monday. Picture: AP Photo/Ashley Landis

The SpaceX capsule that carried NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov. Picture: NASA/AP

Meanwhile, Mr Wilmore said he thought of being away from his daughter’s senior year of high school, but he chose to compartmentalise and focus on the mission.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about my feelings. It’s about what this human space flight program is about. It’s our national goals,” he said.

“I have to wrap myself, my mind, around ‘What does the nation need out of me right now?’ Did I think about not being there for my daughter’s high school year, of course … certainly, deal with the personal side of it, but I can’t let that interfere with what I’m called to do.”

Suni Williams smiling after being freed from the SpaceX Dragon. Picture: Keegan Barber/NASA/AFP

Butch Wilmore being helped out of a SpaceX Dragon. Picture: Keegan Barber/NASA/AFP

‘I’d get on in a heartbeat’

Speaking to reporters at the press conference at Johnson Space Center on Monday, Ms Williams revealed the first thing she did wanted to do after landing back on Earth.

“I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs,” she said, before sharing an update on her health and that she went for a run yesterday.

“I mean, who would even imagine that you come back from roughly 10 months (in space) and within a week, you run two miles at an eight-minute pace,” Ms Wilmore said.

“I mean, that’s not even conceivable that the body could handle that. But these folks get us ready to where those type of things happen.”

Addressing the future of the Starliner, Mr Williams and Ms Wilmore said they would have no issue flying on it again if given the opportunity.

“We’re going to rectify all the issues that we encountered,” Mr Wilmore told media.

“We’re going to fix it, we’re going to make it work. Boeing’s completely committed. NASA is completely committed. And with that, I’d get on in a heartbeat.”

‘Don’t feel the politics’

During their nine months in space, US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who leads SpaceX, repeatedly suggested former President Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.

“They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them,” Mr Trump posted on Truth Social last month.

Astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita "Suni" Williams, and Barry "Butch" Wilmore speak during the news conference at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Picture: Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP

Speaking at Monday’s press conference, fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague, who returned to Earth with Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, said his colleagues weren’t focused on politics in space.

“When we’re up there operating in space, you don’t feel the politics,” Mr Hague said.

“It’s focused strictly on mission.”

Mr Trump said Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams will visit the White House once they have time to fully recover.

“They have to get better. It’s going to be a little bit tough for them — it’s not easy, you know, they’re up a long time,” Mr Trump told Fox News after they splashed down.

“And when they do, they’ll come to the Oval Office.”

Originally published as ‘We weren’t stuck’: NASA astronauts give first interview after returning to Earth