Tag: Butch Wilmore
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Butch and Suni weren’t the only ones: the stories of astronauts “stranded” in space
After a planned eight day mission to the ISS that launched in June 2024, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams splashed down near Florida over nine months later on March 18, 2025. The two astronauts missed family events, birthdays, and Christmas while engineers tried to determine whether Boeing’s Starliner capsule would be safe to return with…
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“What the hell are you doing?” How I learned to interview astronauts, scientists, and billionaires
I recently wrote a story about the wild ride of the Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station last summer. It was based largely on an interview with the commander of the mission, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore. His account of Starliner’s thruster failures—and his desperate efforts to keep the vehicle flying on course—was riveting. In…
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Starliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought
As it flew up toward the International Space Station last summer, the Starliner spacecraft lost four thrusters. A NASA astronaut, Butch Wilmore, had to take manual control of the vehicle. But as Starliner’s thrusters failed, Wilmore lost the ability to move the spacecraft in the direction he wanted to go. He and his fellow astronaut,…
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SpaceX Dragon Freedom splashes down off coast of Florida, ending Crew-9 mission
Support teams work around a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore are returning from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International…
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Musk: President Trump calls for fast-track return to Earth of the former Starliner astronauts
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Image: NASA. In a late afternoon post to X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk stirred up some confusion and consternation among the space community. Without any indication…
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SpaceX launches two to space station, giving Starliner astronauts a ride home in February
A SpaceX Crew Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) for the first time on the Crew-9 mission. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew on a flight to the International Space Station Saturday, along with supplies and a pair of empty seats for two…
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Two-member SpaceX Crew-9 prepares for late week Dragon launch
Representatives from NASA participate in a media event at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Sept. 21, upon the arrival of NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, in advance of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew…
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As it happened: Boeing’s Starliner returned to Earth, marking the end of the Crew Flight Test mission
The summer-long saga of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test is set to come to an end on Friday. Landing at the White Sands Space Harbor shortly after midnight on Saturday. Starliner will make its final journey without crew onboard. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams will remain onboard the International Space…
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NASA to announce final determination on how to conclude Starliner Crew Flight Test
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Boeing’s Crew Flight Test Commander and Pilot respectively, inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station. Image: NASA NASA is at a crossroads when it comes to the conclusion of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. The agency is set to announce its decision on whether or not…
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As it happened: NASA officials discuss latest on Boeing Crew Flight Test
NASA officials continue to review data on the Starliner spacecraft as they determine how best to conclude the mission and return both the spacecraft as well as its crew back to Earth. Follow along with our live blog for updates from the media teleconference, which is set to begin at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 UTC).…