NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore said they were surprised by the intense focus on their mission. At a news briefing Monday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Williams and Wilmore described their “unique” mission, on which they unexpectedly spent more than nine months at the International Space Station when they were originally supposed to stay for only about a week. “The plan went way off for what we had planned, but because we’re in human spaceflight, we prepare for any number of contingencies,” Wilmore said. “This is a curvy road. You never know where it’s going to go.” Wilmore said he’s focused on what’s ahead and applying the lessons learned from his unusual mission rather than blaming any organization or anyone for what happened. But he said both Boeing and NASA, “all the way up and down the chain,” shoulder responsibility for the outcome of the flight. “You cannot do this business without trust,” Wilmore said. “You have to have ultimate trust. And for someone to step forward in these different organizations and say, ‘Hey, I’m culpable for part of that issue’ — that goes a long way to maintaining trust.”
Despite the hiccups in their journey, Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore would still classify it as one giant leap for mankind. The NASA astronauts—who officially made their return to Earth on March 18 after spending nine months in space once their mission went awry—are speaking out for the first time about their expedition. "My first thought was we've just got to pivot," Williams said in an interview with Fox News' America’s Newsroom that aired March 31 of learning about their delay. "If our spacecraft was going to go home based on decisions made here, and we were going to be up there 'til February, I was like, 'Let's make the best of it.'" In fact, Williams noted she was "excited" when it came to spending in even more in space than initially planned. "I'm honored,” she explained of the mission, “to be a little part of it.
US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have revealed their first reactions after learning their week-long test flight was about to turn into a nine-month space odyssey. “Deep inside, I was really excited because I love living in space,” Williams, 59, said in the pair’s first sitdown interview with Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” since returning Earth-side. “I love everything about it up there. I love seeing how the space station had changed since I was there last.” “It’s rocking, it’s moving. There’s so many science experiments that are going on up there. And just, you know, honored to be a little part of it,” she added. Wilmore, 62, who missed most of his daughter’s senior year of high school due to the ordeal, said he pushed his own feelings aside in order to focus on “national goals.” “It’s not about me, it’s not about my feelings,” Wilmore said. “It’s about what this human space flight program is about. It’s our national goals. “I have to wrap myself, my mind, around ‘What does the nation need out of me right now?’ Did I think about not being there for my daughter’s high school year, of course … certainly, deal with the personal side of it, but I can’t let that interfere with what I’m called to do.”
