NASA’s Starliner astronauts don’t feel ‘let down’ by Boeing’s spacecraft

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke astir their continued enactment aboard the International Space Station during a property conference held yesterday. The 2 are present afloat incorporated into the ISS crew, arsenic the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that was meant to instrumentality them location past week was alternatively sent backmost to Earth uncrewed.

Early on, the 2 were asked if they felt “let down” by Boeing.

“Absolutely not,” said Wilmore:

NASA decided not to alert the trade backmost with the 2 aboard aft uncovering thruster issues and helium leaks successful Starliner. But Wilmore said that with much time, “we could person gotten to the point, I believe, wherever we could person returned connected Starliner. But we conscionable simply ran retired of time.” Instead, the 2 person go portion of the ISS crew.

Williams, who Wilmore said volition go the Commander of the ISS soon, said the modulation to the abstraction station’s unit was “not that hard,” arsenic she and Wilmore had been preparing to spell to the presumption for years anterior to their formation earlier this year. She said their aboriginal instrumentality successful a SpaceX Dragon capsule astatine the decision of NASA’s Crew-9 ngo is simply a unsocial accidental for the 2 trial pilots, adding, “We’re excited to alert successful 2 antithetic spacecraft; I mean, we’re testers, that’s what we do.”

Neither astronaut expressed dismay astatine being aboard ISS longer. “Space is my blessed place,” Williams said, ”...every time you bash thing that’s ‘work’ — you tin bash it upside down, you tin bash it sideways, truthful it adds a small antithetic perspective.”

NASA’s Crew-9 mission, which is due to motorboat aboriginal this month, is expected to bring some astronauts backmost to Earth arsenic soon arsenic February adjacent year.