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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA to Welcome Expedition 72 Astronauts Home at Space Center Houston
HOUSTON, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Four NASA astronauts will participate in a welcome home ceremony at Space Center Houston after recently returning from missions aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit will share highlights from their missions at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday, May 22, during a free, public event at NASA Johnson Space Center's visitor center. The astronauts also will recognize key mission contributors during an awards ceremony after their presentation. Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 41 as part of NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test. The duo arrived at the space station on June 6. In August, NASA announced the uncrewed return of Starliner to Earth and integrated Wilmore and Williams with the Expedition 71/72 crew and a return on Crew-9. Hague launched Sept. 28, 2024, with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The next day, they docked to the forward-facing port of the station's Harmony module. Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams returned to Earth on March 18, 2025, splashing down safely off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America. Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles during their mission, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth. Hague has logged 374 days in space during two missions. It was the third spaceflight for both Williams and Wilmore. Williams has logged 608 total days in space, and Wilmore has logged 464 days. Pettit launched aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft on Sept. 11, 2024, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. The seven-month research mission as an Expedition 72 flight engineer was the fourth spaceflight of Pettit's career, completing 3,520 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 93.3 million miles. He has logged a total of 590 days in orbit. Pettit and his crewmembers safely landed in Kazakhstan on April 19, 2025 (April 20, 2025, Kazakhstan time). The Expedition 72 crew dedicated more than 1,000 combined hours to scientific research and technology demonstrations aboard the International Space Station. Their work included enhancing metal 3D printing capabilities in orbit, exploring the potential of stem cell technology for treating diseases, preparing the first wooden satellite for deployment, and collecting samples from the station's exterior to examine whether microorganisms can survive in the harsh environment of space. They also conducted studies on plant growth and quality, investigated how fire behaves in microgravity, and advanced life support systems, all aimed at improving the health, safety, and sustainability of future space missions. Pettit also used his spare time and surroundings aboard station to conduct unique experiments and captivate the public with his photography. Expedition 72 captured a record one million photos during the mission, showcasing the unique research and views aboard the orbiting laboratory through astronauts' eyes. For more than 24 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and conducting critical research for the benefit of humanity and our home planet. Space station research supports the future of human spaceflight as NASA looks toward deep space missions to the Moon under the Artemis campaign and in preparation for future human missions to Mars, as well as expanding commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit and beyond. Learn more about the International Space Station at: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NASA
Boston Globe
15-05-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Astronaut Sunita Williams receives honorary degree from Merrimack College, recalls dramatic nine-month journey in space
'Sometimes, just stopping for a moment and looking around allows us to see what's happening right in front of us,' Williams, 59, said. '[There are] unbelievable things, if you just stop for a moment and look out the window.' Advertisement In an interview after the ceremony, Williams revealed plans to continue passing on her wisdom. On Friday, she plans to visit her hometown of Needham, dropping by Sunita L. Williams Elementary School—which was named for her in 2019—and in the future she pledged to mentor aspiring astronauts, 'giving back the things that I've learned, and pass it on to the future generations.' Her advice to these new astronauts closely mirrors the guidance she offered the graduates: be able to 'adapt and pivot.' 'I don't think I've had one spacewalk that has gone from A to B as planned. Every time there's been something that's a little bit different, and you just need to know that's part of the job,' she said. Advertisement Williams' speech follows her Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams posed for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. Uncredited/Associated Press She described in the speech witnessing 'unbelievable' auroras, watching two comets swing around the sun, and carrying out 'groundbreaking' life-science experiments and spacecraft trials. 'We wouldn't have had that opportunity to participate in these things if everything went as planned,' she said. 'We don't always intend to do these daring things and learn so much.' According to Williams, success lies in patience, steadfastness, and the willingness to support—and lean on—one another. NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams spoke with the media following the commencement. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff 'This is just the beginning,' she told the graduates. 'There are many more starting lines you need to find. There are so many more people you need to lend a helping hand to.' 'This is your time, your world to make better,' she said. Merrimack College also awarded Williams an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters—one of five honorary degrees presented at this year's commencement ceremonies. She beamed and gave a thumbs-up as a white stole was draped over her shoulders, officially marking her new distinction. NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams greeted graduates as they passed through a gauntlet of faculty during Merrimack College's School of Arts and Sciences Commencement in North Andover. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff The award is just part of a long list of accolades for Williams, who has received two Defense Superior Service Medals, a Humanitarian Service Medal, and numerous other Advertisement In fact, even on earth, her passion for running remains undiminished. She told the Globe in the post-ceremony interview, she will run again in the Boston Marathon in 2026. 'I have to be a little bit careful as [my] body adjusts to coming back home,' she said. '… [But] I'm going to make myself do it. Now that I've said it out loud.' Mostly, though, she wants to savor life on Earth. 'I missed it,' Williams said. 'To come back to walk my dogs... take them to the beach, feel the sand in your feet, you know, go hiking in the mountains and you know, smell the pine.' 'I took for granted none of it,' she said. Rita Chandler can be reached at
Gulf Today
19-03-2025
- Science
- Gulf Today
Nasa's stranded astronauts are finally on their way back home
Nasa's two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station – their home since last spring – departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting. The two were expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. Astronauts are seen inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Aleksandr Gorbunov and Nick Hague. Reuters So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that Nasa eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month's delay. Sunday's arrival of their relief crew meant Wilmore and Williams could finally leave. Nasa cut them loose a little early, given the iffy weather forecast later this week. They checked out with Nasa's Nick Hague and Russia's Alexander Gorbunov, who arrived in their own SpaceX capsule last fall with two empty seats reserved for the Starliner duo. "We'll miss you, but have a great journey home,' Nasa's Anne McClain called out from the space station as the capsule pulled away 260 miles (418 kilometres) above the Pacific. Their plight captured the world's attention, giving new meaning to the phrase "stuck at work.' While other astronauts had logged longer spaceflights over the decades, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or see the length of their mission expand by so much. Nine spacewalks, 62 hours Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even spacewalking together. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a new record: the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts. Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait. File Both had lived on the orbiting lab before and knew the ropes, and brushed up on their station training before rocketing away. Williams became the station's commander three months into their stay and held the post until earlier this month. Unexpected turn Their mission took an unexpected twist in late January when President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate the astronauts' return and blamed the delay on the Biden administration. The replacement crew's brand new SpaceX capsule still wasn't ready to fly, so SpaceX subbed it with a used one, hurrying things along by at least a few weeks. Even in the middle of the political storm, Wilmore and Williams continued to maintain an even keel at public appearances from orbit, casting no blame and insisting they supported Nasa's decisions from the start. Nasa hired SpaceX and Boeing after the shuttle programme ended, in order to have two competing US companies for transporting astronauts to and from the space station until it's abandoned in 2030 and steered to a fiery re-entry. By then, it will have been up there more than three decades; the plan is to replace it with privately run stations so Nasa can focus on moon and Mars expeditions. Hard for their families Both retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams stressed they didn't mind spending more time in space – a prolonged deployment reminiscent of their military days. But they acknowledged it was tough on their families. Wilmore, 62, missed most of his younger daughter's senior year of high school; his older daughter is in college. Williams, 59, had to settle for internet calls from space to her mother. They'll have to wait until they're off the SpaceX recovery ship and flown to Houston before the long-awaited reunion with their loved ones. Associated Press
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
They're Back! 'Stranded' Astronauts Make a Safe Return to Earth's Surface
What started as an eight-day mission on the International Space Station (ISS) became a nine-month wait for a return trip back to Earth's surface. Now astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can finally feel the pull of gravity once again, having splashed down safely off the Gulf Coast of Florida Tuesday evening alongside fellow NASA crewmate Nick Hague and the Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Launched on 5 June 2024, the Boeing Crew Flight Test was intended to deliver Wilmore and Williams to the ISS in a demonstration of the transport capacity for the company's promising new Starliner spaceship. In what would be a major setback for Boeing's commercial space venture, the ship's engines glitched on approach to the space station, resulting in a review that concluded the vessel would return to Earth without passengers, with its crew to remain behind and await a 'rescue' mission. Though NASA has never officially described the two astronauts as stranded, the pair's mission extended from days into weeks into months as plans were made to bring them home. Though they admitted to missing their friends and family, Williams and Wilmore claimed to have enjoyed their time on board the station, participating in the routines, keeping busy conducting more than 150 unique scientific experiments, and even undergoing spacewalks. Early Tuesday morning, the crew climbed into a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for a 17-hour trip home. Once in orbit, a quick firing of the spacecraft's engines brought the craft into a final maneuver that directed it towards Florida's Gulf Coast. At 5:57 pm ET, the craft touched down, finally bringing to an end a work shift that will go down in space history. 'Big Wheel' Version of The Milky Way Discovered in Fortunate Finding Universe's First Light Has Just Been Revealed in Stunning Detail Incredible Video Shows Blood Moon Eclipse From Lunar Perspective
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How eight days in space turned into a nine-month odyssey
At 5.57pm local time on Tuesday, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with two crewmates, will splash down off the coast of Florida in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Or rather, that is if everything goes to plan – which has not tended to be the case with Williams and Wilmore's mission. Should they indeed make it back from the International Space Station (ISS) as outlined, it will represent the end of a saga that has seen what was meant to be an eight-day trip turn into the best part of ten months in space, an adventure beset by a litany of delays, technical issues and political friction. Even last week, the mission that was meant to be bringing the intrepid pair home, at long last, was delayed for 48 hours after an issue with hydraulics – finally lifting off on Friday evening. During their unexpectedly long stay in orbit, Williams and Wilmore's plight has become political football. Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has claimed that his SpaceX firm offered to send another rocket to get the two astronauts six months ago, but then-President Joe Biden said no. The malfunctioning craft that carried the pair to the ISS in June last year was made by Boeing, the beleaguered aeronautics giant that has endured a series of high-profile disasters. Donald Trump has seized on the situation as an opportunity to berate his predecessor. In January, he posted on social media that the two astronauts had been 'virtually abandoned in space.' The president's comments were echoed by Musk, who in an interview with Sean Hannity said the pair were 'left up there for political reasons.' The space community reacted angrily. 'What a lie,' wrote Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut and former commander of the ISS. 'And from someone who complains about the lack of honesty from the mainstream media.' Musk later called Mogensen 'r—---d' and an 'idiot'. Trump has dialled up the rhetoric as the astronauts' return has drawn closer. 'We love you, and we're coming up to get you, and you shouldn't have been up there so long,' he said last Wednesday while addressing the astronauts from a press conference in the White House. 'The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won't.' 'I hope they like each other,' he added. 'Maybe they'll love each other, I don't know. But they've been left up there [...] So Elon's going to go up and get them. Should I go on that journey?' Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 62, are both highly experienced astronauts. Each had undertaken two spaceflights – including months long stints onboard the ISS – before being picked to crew Nasa's Boeing Crew Flight Test, the first manned mission of Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft. The mission was originally scheduled to launch as far back as 2017, before the first of what would come to be numerous delays scuppered those plans. Because of the setbacks, the crew assigned to the flight changed several times before Nasa confirmed in June 2022 that it would be a two-person expedition, featuring Williams and Wilmore. By April of last year, preparations were far enough advanced to allow for the Starliner craft to be placed atop its Atlas V launch vehicle, a 191-foot rocket. But the launch was repeatedly postponed thereafter. An original date of May 7 was scrubbed when engineers found a problem with an oxygen valve. A second date of June 1 was cancelled when the ground computer failed. Williams and Wilmore finally blasted off on June 5, when Biden was still president and planning to lead the Democratic party into last November's election. Although the launch went well, their capsule – named Calypso – encountered difficulties as it approached the ISS, when its thrusters malfunctioned. The proposed return was delayed for several weeks while more tests were done. On August 24, Nasa announced it was too dangerous for Williams and Wilmore to return in the capsule. This left the agency with three choices: put them on the four-seater SpaceX craft that was already docked, which would have meant delaying the return of two astronauts who were already there. Or SpaceX could launch a new ship to bring them home immediately, but that could have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, leave the station under-staffed and mess up the rest of the schedule. Ultimately it was decided that Williams and Whitmore would stay with the other astronauts already on the station and come back with the next scheduled return, which would only have two astronauts rather than four. SpaceX takes crewed missions to the ISS every six months or so. Boeing's faulty Starliner returned empty on September 6 – more technical issues emerged during the flight back, but the capsule made it safely to New Mexico. Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore remained at the station, busying themselves with tasks and research – investigating what the absence of gravity does to eyesight, cardiac health and brain function, among other things – and preparing for the toll of many months longer than planned in space. The living quarters aboard the ISS are roughly the size of a six-bedroom house. The pair had been sharing the space with ten others; three from China, three from Russia and four other Americans. Thanks to resupply missions, they had plenty of food and water, as well as personal effects. Onboard, the crew maintained a strict routine; Wilmore rising at 4.30am and Williams two hours later. As well as daily exercise – vital for staying healthy in microgravity – they helped maintain the station, including what they described as 'orbital plumbing,' using replacement parts they brought up in the Starliner. In November, they were able to vote in the election via postal vote. Both have said they miss family and friends; Wilmore especially for missing most of his daughter's final year of high school. While their stay has been months longer than planned, it is still well short of the record. In 2023, Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio spent 371 days on the ISS. Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent 437 days aboard Mir in the mid-1990s. Nasa has mostly remained discreet on the situation (and were approached for comment), perhaps mindful of causing trouble at a time when Trump and Musk are on the hunt for government spending to cut. When the decision to delay the return was taken last August, the then-Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said that 'politics [had] not played any part' in their thinking. Although politics might not have been involved, money was. This week, Ken Bowersox, Nasa's associate administrator for space operations, explained that although SpaceX had 'helped with a lot of options' for bringing them home, the agency 'ruled them out pretty quickly just based on how much money we've got in our budget.' When asked during a space Q&A earlier this month about Musk's claim that he had offered to bring the astronauts home last year, Wilmore confirmed the statements were 'absolutely factual.' However, while he said he 'believed' the billionaire, he admitted that neither he nor Williams had any concrete information about who had offered what to whom, or when. To some on earth, it appeared irrefutable that the astronauts were abandoned. But experts say otherwise. Libby Jackson, head of space at the Science Museum, says it is a mistake to think of the pair as stranded, given the ISS always has a capsule docked capable of returning all the astronauts in the event of an emergency. 'They have never been stuck or stranded,' she explains. 'There is a general perception that to get to and from the International Space Station you have to wait for a capsule like catching a bus. But it's much more like driving somewhere in your car. The spacecraft is ready and waiting for them to come home at a moment's notice. 'Musk and Trump have played on this sense that they had no way home again. That's not true. It's just that after the problems with the test flight, Nasa decided the right thing for the crew to do was to stay and join the crew. Butch and Sunny are fantastic astronauts who are enjoying having some unexpected time in space. Any astronaut who goes there says it's a brilliant, wonderful place to work.' Still, in February, Wilmore's 16-year-old daughter, Daryn, posted a video on TikTok in which she appeared to side with the Trump/Musk view of things. 'He's missed out on a lot. It's less the fact that he's up there sometimes; it's more the fact of why,' she said. 'There's a lot of politics, there's a lot of things that I'm not at liberty to say [...] But there's been issues, there's been negligence.' Whatever the truth of these accusations, as astronauts they will have been prepared for their plans to change, says Clayton Anderson, an author and retired American astronaut who spent five months on the ISS in 2007 after relieving Williams, who had been on her maiden spaceflight. 'If they had told me I would have been up for six months longer than expected, I would have been pretty angry, but I would have dealt with that anger by speaking to my wife on the ground and quickly coming to the understanding that I can't control it, so I'm going to be the best professional astronaut I can be and we're going to suck it up and execute as a family to accommodate what Nasa had decided.' He adds that sticking to routines, and mentally separating the stint into smaller blocks of time, can help astronauts to cope with long periods in space. 'We did two and a half hours of exercise a day,' he recalls. 'We had a bike, a treadmill and a weights machine. I looked forward to that. Cleaning up afterwards was important to me psychologically. Especially on the days I was going to put on clean underwear or clothes, that was a huge psychological benefit. I imagine they have learned more about themselves, especially in terms of patience, adaptability, forgiveness and mission accomplishment. They are probably focussed on completing the mission. All astronauts have that.' And while some of the interventions from the White House may appear unhelpful, Anderson says all the publicity is a benefit to the industry. 'Space is cool again,' he says. 'Nasa is always going to be political. People are paying attention. For Butch and Sunny that's helpful. They'll come home and there will be book deals waiting for them, they'll be on the speaking circuit. It's good for them. It's good for the space program that people are arguing about Starliner versus SpaceX, or Elon and what he's doing. It's funny how everybody loved Elon until he supported Trump and now they're all over his ass. But no matter how you hear about space travel, if people are talking about it, that's good.' Trump, for his part, appears keen to keep the pair in the spotlight, having promised to welcome them back to earth with open arms. 'When they come back, I'll greet them,' he said last week. 'How about that?' The astronauts, in turn, have expressed gratitude to the president for his help. Reflecting on their odyssey before heading home, Williams told The New York Times she was, in fact, enjoying her extended stay and sad that it might be her last trip into space. 'It makes you really want to enjoy every bit of your time that you have up here,' she said. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
