Latest news with #ButchWilmore
Mint
13 hours ago
- Science
- Mint
NASA's Sunita Williams, Butch recall Starliner's journey to space: 'We didn't know if we would be able to make it back'
During their space journey last year, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore wondered whether they would have been able to 'make it back' home if their Starliner vehicle had not docked with the International Space Station (ISS). Starliner's historic first test mission with NASA astronauts had issues docking with the ISS on June 6 after five thrusters (out of 28) in its reaction control system misbehaved. Two months after safely landing on Earth, Butch Wilmore recalled the horror he and Sunita Williams faced when their Boeing Starliner capsule was detected with faults mid-journey. Wilmore told BBC News that docking of the spacecraft with the space station was 'imperative'. But when the spacecraft endured a series of thruster failures and helium leaks, the astronauts were unable to fly forward to dock. "If we weren't able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn't know," Wilmore said. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had launched into space on June 5, riding on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. They reached the ISS on June 6. They were supposed to spend eight days in space, but they ended up staying for around nine months due to the faults in the Starliner. The NASA had determined it was too much of a risk to put the two NASA astronauts back on board Starliner, and changed its ISS manifest to bring the astronauts home in another way. The two NASA astronauts returned safely to Earth in March this year, on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Since their return, the duo have been working with the NASA and Boeing to fix problems with the malfunctioning spacecraft that took them into space last summer, BBC reported. "We are very positively hopeful that there will be opportunities to fly the Boeing Starliner in the future," Wilmore said. Both astronauts said they would personally fly in the craft again - once those technical issues were resolved. "It's a very capable spacecraft," Sunita Williams was quoted as saying. She added, "It has unique capabilities compared to other spacecraft that are out there that are really great for future astronauts to fly."
BBC News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Almost lost in space: Astronauts recall tension of troubled Starliner flight
When astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore approached the International Space Station (ISS) last year with failing thrusters on their Boeing Starliner capsule, they were unable to fly forward to dock. And if they couldn't dock, they didn't know if they could make it back home again."Docking was imperative," Mr Wilmore told BBC News, two months after he and Ms Williams finally made a successful return to Earth. "If we weren't able to dock, would we be able to make it back? We didn't know."The astronauts had been travelling on a test flight that was meant to last eight days. Instead, they ended up staying in space for nearly 10 months. The first challenge was to dock safely and successfully at the ISS, which they managed to do within several minutes after Mission Control on the ground helped them restart the craft's Wilmore said that the possibility they might never see Earth again "definitely went through our minds".But both astronauts said they didn't communicate the worst-case scenarios out loud in those moments, because they were trained to move on with solving problems. "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?" Astronauts Butch and Suni finally back on EarthHow did the Nasa pair fill nine months in space? The pair's saga began in June 2024. They were taking part in the first crewed test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, which was developed by aerospace company after a number of technical problems during their flight, the option of Starliner carrying the astronauts home as planned was deemed to be a risk not worth taking - given that the pair could instead be brought back by another company, that reason, they stayed in space until they hitched a ride back on a SpaceX capsule. For its part, Boeing maintained that its own capsule was safe to use - and was proven right when the craft returned, uncrewed, in September months of experiments aboard the space station, Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore eventually returned to Earth on 18 this phase of their mission, the pair were repeatedly described as stranded, implying there was no means for them to get off the that was not the case, as the space station always has spacecraft attached to it - which could have acted in an emergency as a lifeboat to carry the astronauts back to the pair's stay was longer than expected - though the Nasa pair embraced this."We knew nobody was going to just let us down... we knew everybody had our back and was looking out for us," Ms Williams in limbo, the pair even found themselves in the middle of a political row, after US President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for abandoning them in space. But the astronauts said they ignored the politics and didn't feel abandoned. "We can't speak to that at all," said Mr Wilmore. "We understand space flight is hard, human space flight is even harder." After two months back on the ground, both astronauts say they are feeling fit and well, because the workouts that they undertook while in their zero-gravity environment paid in zero gravity means your body doesn't need much time to recover from the daily squats and deadlifts, Mr Wilmore said he performed squats and deadlifts "every single day for almost 10 months", meaning that he returned to Earth "literally stronger than I've ever been in my life".Ms Williams agreed - she went running days after landing back on Earth and once ran a full marathon in space strapped to a treadmill - but said it's not always easy to readjust to the weight of the world. "Just getting gravity back on your head and your back and all that kind of stuff is a little bit painful," she their return, the pair have been working with Nasa and Boeing to fix problems with the malfunctioning spacecraft that took them into space last summer."We are very positively hopeful that there will be opportunities to fly the Boeing Starliner in the future," Mr Wilmore both astronauts said they would personally fly in the craft again - once those technical issues were resolved."It's a very capable spacecraft," Ms Williams said. "It has unique capabilities compared to other spacecraft that are out there that are really great for future astronauts to fly."
Mint
a day ago
- Science
- Mint
What space, submarines and polar research teach about teamwork
If you are fed up with the other people on your team, remember this: it could be so much worse. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two American astronauts, returned to Earth on March 18th after a planned days-long mission to the International Space Station turned into a nine-month stay. At the SANAE IV research station in Antarctica, reports have emerged of assault, death threats and intimidation among a team of South African scientists who arrived there in February; they are due to leave the base only in December. Submariners on Britain's nuclear-armed subs can be at sea for six months or more. Spacecraft, polar-research stations and submarines are among a set of environments classed as isolated, confined and extreme (ICE). They put that two-day off-site retreat you're dreading into perspective. They also put very specific stresses on teams. Most obviously, there is no real escape from each other. If you storm out of an Antarctic research station, you will storm back in again fairly quickly. Privacy will always be limited: a British nuclear sub has a crew of 130 or so in a vessel whose length a sprinter would cover in under 20 seconds. Its absence is likely to be particularly obvious to women in male-dominated teams. Family members are a very long way away; any future missions to Mars would involve crews spending years away from home. These are plainly not typical team environments. You cannot tell a story that no one else knows about you, do a few trust falls—and then blast off. NASA, America's space agency, simulates the conditions of space at a facility in Houston called the Human Exploration Research Analogue (HERA), a 650-square-foot structure where crews can spend weeks at a time on mock missions. A paper by Mathias Basner of the University of Pennsylvania and his co-authors reports on a 520-day simulation of a mission to Mars that was conducted in Moscow in 2011. Of a multinational crew comprising six male volunteers, one reported symptoms of depression almost all the way through. Only two crew members reported no sleep disturbances or psychological distress, which makes them the weirdest of the lot. Extreme though these situations are, they provide a magnified lens on more quotidian team problems. One example is tedium. Missions to ICE environments can be a curious combination of danger and monotony. Antarctic explorers report that it is preferable to follow someone on the ice than to lead, because at least there is something to look at. But there are ways to inject meaning into the mundane whatever the workplace. A paper by Madeleine Rauch of the University of Cambridge looks at the disconnect experienced by UN peacekeepers between the abstract ideals of their work and the humdrum reality of it. She finds that people cope better with boredom if they are able to reframe tedious tasks as steps towards the larger goal. Another magnified problem is conflict. Small things can lead to great friction among colleagues in every workplace. ('Wow, you want to see crew dynamics," reads one entry in a journal kept by an astronaut on the International Space Station, about an attempt to take a group photo. 'I thought we were going to lose a member of the crew during that one.") But defusing conflict is much more important if there is nowhere for an angry worker to cool off. Personality obviously matters here. Some of the traits that seem to predict successful team members in ICE environments include agreeableness, emotional stability and humour. Empathy also matters. In his book 'Supercommunicators", Charles Duhigg describes research conducted at NASA to test would-be astronauts for their instinctive capacity to match the emotions, energy levels and mood of an interviewer. Tactics can help mitigate conflict, too. Regular team debriefs are a constructive way to bring simmering issues to the surface, especially if crews have very limited contact with mission control. A paper on long-duration space exploration by Lauren Blackwell Landon of NASA and her co-authors suggests that debriefs can be effective hurtling away from Earth as well as on it. ICE environments plainly place very unusual demands on people. But they can teach some lessons about boredom, team composition, conflict resolution and more. And knowing that they exist might just make you feel happier about the daily commute. Subscribers to The Economist can sign up to our Opinion newsletter, which brings together the best of our leaders, columns, guest essays and reader correspondence.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Major health update on NASA's stranded astronauts still in pain months later
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth in March after being stuck on the International Space Station for more than nine months due to a bungled test flight Two NASA astronauts have told of the aches and pains of life on Earth after being stuck in space for 286 days and admitted 'gravity stinks for a period'. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth in March following a bungled test flight more than nine months previously that left them stranded on the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico on March 18. Within an hour, the astronauts were out of their capsule, waving and smiling at the cameras while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks. And it has not been an easy readjustment to life on Earth as they have now finished nearly two months of physical therapy. It has meant spending two hours a day strength and conditioning training so as as build up muscle mass. And Mr Wilmore, 62, said he is still suffering from back pain now that the rehabilitation has ended. "Gravity stinks for a period, and that period varies for different people, but eventually you get over those neurovestibular balance type of issues," he said, reported the Mail. While Ms Williams, 59, also spoke of tiredness which made it harder for her to wake up early in the mornings as she preferred. Mr Wilmore added: "We're still floating in the capsule in the ocean, and my neck starts hurting, while we still hadn't even been extracted yet.' And it shows how the human body has evolved over millions of years with Earth's gravity. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. 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. They circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 121 million miles by the time of splashdown. Part of their readjustment has seen them speak with psychologists and psychiatrists about their experiences on the ISS. 'You're thrown together day and night seven days a week at 24 hours a day, and just like any family there's a point where something rubs you the wrong way or something - that happens anywhere,' said Mr Wilmore. Both retired Navy captains, Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams stressed they didn't mind spending more time in space — a prolonged deployment reminiscent of their military days - when they returned to Earth. But they acknowledged it was tough on their families.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Major health update on NASA's stranded astronauts who are STILL in pain months later
NASA's astronauts who spent 286 days in space have revealed the painful struggles they've faced after taking a major step forward in their recovery. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who returned from the International Space Station (ISS) in March, have just successfully completed nearly two months of physical therapy. The astronauts have been going through at least two hours of strength and conditioning training daily, working with NASA's medical team to rebuild muscle mass, restore their balance in Earth's gravity, and prevent further bone loss. It hasn't been a smooth process, with Wilmore, 62, admitting he still has back pain even after his rehabilitation came to an end. The astronaut also looked visibly thinner, especially in his face, during his first public appearance since finishing rehab on May 22. 'Gravity stinks for a period, and that period varies for different people,' Wilmore said. Williams, his 59-year-old co-pilot, added that her recovery from life in space has also been going slowly, as she experienced bouts of fatigue long into NASA's 45-day rehab process. The fatigue and extreme muscle loss, seen in photos after their landing, left Williams unable to get out of bed easily for weeks after the space mission. At the same time, the astronauts said they've been taking on an increasing workload, advising Boeing's Starliner program and trying to fix the beleaguered ship that stranded them in space in the first place. 'It's been a little bit of a whirlwind,' Williams told Reuters, adding that the duo still have 'obligations' to NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The program is a partnership with private companies to develop and operate spacecraft which transport astronauts to and from the ISS. Williams and Wilmore's mission in the first crewed Starliner pod in June 2024 was plagued with malfunctions, leading NASA and Boeing to cancel their return trip. This led to the astronauts having to wait 286 days for NASA to get a new spacecraft ready and a replacement crew prepared to rescue them in March 2025. 'I knew we were going to get home at some point in time. We just got to wait for the right ride and make sure everybody's all good with that and we'll get home,' Williams told WFAA during a NASA welcome home celebration last week. While Williams is remaining positive about the experience on the ISS, she noted that all that time in space disrupted her sleep for months after landing on Earth. She revealed that she felt tired throughout the physical therapy process, having difficulty getting her muscles to re-engage after living in zero gravity. A self-proclaimed 'early bird,' Williams' issues made it a struggle for her to wake up in the morning until late May when everything suddenly changed for the better. 'Then I'm up at four in the morning, and I'm like, Aha! I'm back,' she said after the welcome home event on May 22. The NASA ceremony brought more than 1,000 guests together at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to officially welcome home all four astronauts who returned from the ISS in a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18. For Wilmore, his physical pain started almost immediately after they splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean. Butch Wilmore said he still has some back pain after nearly 2 months in physical therapy following his time on the International Space Station. After splashing down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, the astronaut noted that neck pain began almost immediately 'We're still floating in the capsule in the ocean, and my neck starts hurting, while we still hadn't even been extracted yet,' Wilmore revealed. 'I still got a little twinge in one spot in my back after a couple of months,' he added. Wilmore noted that he had minor back and neck issues before his June 2024 spaceflight, but all of that cleared up in the low-gravity environment of space. 'You don't have any stress on your body,' the astronaut explained. Both rescued astronauts received weeks of physical and mental health support following their return, speaking with doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists about their isolating experience on the ISS. 'You're thrown together day and night seven days a week at 24 hours a day, and just like any family there's a point where something rubs you the wrong way or something - that happens anywhere,' Wilmore noted. Despite being locked in the cramped space station with Williams and two other astronauts for months, Wilmore added that their frustrations were 'minor.' As their recovery ends and the focus now turns to the next crew heading to the ISS, pressure builds on Boeing to make good on their multi-billion-dollar contract with NASA to deliver a vehicle that safely takes humans to and from the space station. NASA has already revealed plans to send Boeing's Starliner back into space - despite the international scandal it created by stranding Williams and Wilmore. The same day the astronauts returned to Earth, the space agency officially committed to using Starliner again. NASA stressed the importance of having two launch systems. SpaceX remains the other. Boeing's $4.5 billion Starliner project has been plagued with delays, glitches, and billions of dollars in cost overruns since the Commercial Crew Program began in 2010. NASA has admitted that Starliner will essentially have to go back to square one and prove it can safely carry astronauts all over again. Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich added that Starliner would have to gain back its certification for the Commercial Crew Program.
