It's hard to watch the Boeing capsule leave space without us, NASA astronauts say | US News

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, stuck in space, said Friday it would be difficult to watch their Boeing capsule return to Earth without them.

They were their first public comments since the return last week of the Boeing Starliner capsule that carried them to the International Space Station in June. They remained there after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too great a risk for them to fly.

“That's the way it goes in this business,” Williams said, adding, “You have to turn the page and look for the next opportunity.”

Wilmore and Williams are now full members of the station crew, helping with routine maintenance and experiments. They and seven others on board welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily increasing the station crew to 12 – a near-record total.

The transition to life on the station was “not too difficult” since both had worked there before, says Williams, who will soon take over as head of the station.

“This is my happy place. I love being up here in space,” she said.

The two Starliner test pilots – retired Navy captains and longtime NASA astronauts – will remain at the orbiting lab until the end of February. They will have to wait for a SpaceX capsule to bring them back. That spacecraft is scheduled to launch later this month with a reduced crew of two, leaving two seats open for Wilmore and Williams for the return flight.

The couple said they appreciate the prayers and well-wishes from strangers back home. Wilmore said he will miss important events in his family, such as his youngest daughter's senior year of high school.

Its Starliner capsule was Boeing's first spaceflight with astronauts, enduring a series of engine failures and helium leaks before reaching the space station on June 6. It landed safely in the New Mexico desert earlier this month, but Boeing's path forward in NASA's commercial crew program remains uncertain.

The space agency hired SpaceX and Boeing a decade ago to provide an orbital taxi service after the shuttles were retired. SpaceX has been flying astronauts since 2020.