Astronauts stuck in space make their first public comments after the ride leaves without them

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronauts stuck in space Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday that it was difficult to cope with their Boeing ride leaving without them and the prospect of spending several more months in orbit.

These were their first public comments since returning last week Boeing Starliner capsule which took them to the International Space Station in June. She was left behind after NASA determined that the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride in it again. Their eight-day mission is now expected to last more than eight months.

“It was an occasional attempt. There were hard times all the time,” Wilmore said from an altitude of 260 miles. As spacecraft pilots, “you don’t want to see it leave without you, but that’s where we ended up.”

Although they never expected to be there for nearly a year, as Starliner’s first test pilots they knew there could be problems that could delay their return. “That’s the way things go in this industry,” Williams said.

Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged crew members of the station, performing routine maintenance and experiments. Williams will take command of the space station in a few weeks, Wilmore told reporters at a news conference — only their second since its June 5 launch from Florida.

The duo, along with seven others on board, welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft earlier this week carrying two Russians and an American, temporarily bringing the station population to 12, a near record. And later this month, two more astronauts will fly up with SpaceX; For the second leg, two capsule seats remain empty for Wilmore and Williams.

The transition to life on a space station was “not that difficult” since both had been there before, said Williams, who logged two long stays on the space station years ago.

“This is my happy place. I love being here in the space,” she said.

Wilmore noted that if his adjustment didn’t happen immediately, it was “pretty close.”

The astronauts said they appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home, and that it has helped them cope with everything they will miss at home.

Williams couldn’t help but worry for a while about losing precious face-to-face time with her mother. Wilmore won’t be there for his youngest daughter’s senior year of high school. He just requested an absentee ballot on Friday so he can vote from space in the November election. Both emphasized the importance of carrying out their civic duties as their mission continues.

Their Starliner capsule marked Boeing’s first space flight with astronauts. The craft endured a series of thruster failures and helium leaks before arriving at the space station on June 6. It landed safely in the New Mexico desert earlier this month, but Boeing’s direction in NASA’s commercial crew program remains uncertain.

The space agency hired SpaceX and Boeing to provide an orbital taxi service a decade ago after the shuttles were retired. SpaceX has been flying astronauts since 2020.

Williams said she is excited to fly two different spacecraft on the same mission. “We are testers, that’s what we do,” she said.

“We wanted to take Starliner to completion and land it back on land at home,” she added. “But you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”

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