When astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore approached the International Space Station (ISS) last year, their Boeing Starliner capsule’s failing thrusters put them in a precarious situation. “Docking was imperative,” Mr. Wilmore recalled in an interview with BBC News. “If we weren’t able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn’t know.” The astronauts’ test flight was initially meant to last eight days, but they ended up staying in space for nearly 10 months.
The pair’s saga began in June 2024, when they embarked on the first crewed test flight of the Starliner spacecraft. However, technical problems during their flight led NASA to deem the Starliner capsule unsafe for their return, and they instead hitched a ride back on a SpaceX capsule. Boeing maintained that its capsule was safe to use, which was proven right when the craft returned uncrewed in September 2024.
Despite the challenges they faced, Williams and Wilmore worked closely with Mission Control to safely dock at the ISS. “You sort of read each other’s mind and know where we’re going with all the failures,” Ms. Williams told the BBC. “These were not expected,” she admitted, but thoughts quickly turned to solutions: “At the same time, you know, we’re like, what do we have? What can we do?”.
The astronauts’ prolonged stay in space took a toll on their bodies. Dr. John Jaquish, a biomedical engineer, warned that by the time Williams and Wilmore landed, they would likely be at “extreme risk of fragility fracture” due to severe bone density loss. “They probably will not be able to walk under their own power. They will probably leave the space vehicle on a stretcher, and it will take them months to recondition their bodies,” he said.
After their return to Earth on March 18, the astronauts reported feeling fit and well, thanks to their rigorous workout routine in space. Mr. Wilmore said he performed squats and deadlifts “every single day for almost 10 months”, making him “literally stronger than I’ve ever been in my life”. However, readjusting to gravity was not without its challenges: “Just getting gravity back on your head and your back and all that kind of stuff is a little bit painful,” Ms. Williams said.
The astronauts are now working with NASA and Boeing to fix the problems with the malfunctioning spacecraft. “We are very positively hopeful that there will be opportunities to fly the Boeing Starliner in the future,” Mr. Wilmore said. Both astronauts expressed willingness to fly in the craft again once the technical issues are resolved, praising its unique capabilities.