NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Butch Wilmore finally opened up on Monday, March 31, 2025, about their unexpected nine-month stay in space—a mission originally meant to last just eight days. Speaking from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the duo reflected on being “stuck” aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after a glitch grounded their Boeing Starliner ride home. Smiling and joking, they shrugged off the word “stranded” and said they’d go again in a heartbeat.
Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 62, launched on June 5, 2024, to test Boeing’s Starliner, a new crew spacecraft. They docked at the ISS the next day, expecting to return within the week. But helium leaks and thruster problems made the Starliner unsafe for reentry. NASA sent the craft back empty in September for diagnostics. Williams and Wilmore remained aboard the ISS, staying a total of 286 days, orbiting Earth more than 4,500 times. They finally returned to Earth on March 18, splashing down off Florida aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon with astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
“We didn’t feel stuck,” Williams laughed during the press conference.
“People kept saying ‘stranded,’ but we were busy working up there.”
She said the moment she learned of the extended stay, her reaction was simple:
“Okay, we’ve got to pivot.”
She and Wilmore joined the ISS crew for regular duties—repairs, science experiments, and even a spacewalk, during which Williams broke a record for most spacewalking time by a woman: 62 hours total. Back on Earth, she celebrated with a grilled cheese sandwich, honoring her vegetarian dad.
Wilmore, the mission’s commander, was candid about the mission’s issues:
“We’re all responsible,” he told Fox News.
“I didn’t ask some questions I should’ve—Boeing had test flaws, NASA too. We all own this.”
Despite the setbacks, he called it “fun” and “trying,” not a failure:
“We had a plan, it went off track, but that’s spaceflight—you roll with it.”
Their prolonged stay drew attention from President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and critics who claimed the astronauts were “abandoned” for political reasons.
“We don’t feel abandoned,” Wilmore told CNN from space last month.
At Monday’s event, he added:
“It’s great our leaders are in on this—it’s empowering.”
NASA’s Joel Montalbano confirmed that safety and mission timing, not politics, were behind the delay.
After landing, both astronauts were carried out on stretchers, a normal reaction to gravity after months in microgravity. Two weeks later, Williams said she ran three miles Sunday and felt good. She reunited with her husband and dogs, then made that sandwich. Wilmore hugged his family and thanked the public:
“It’s special when people care.”
The duo logged 900 hours of science on the ISS—studying hearts, bones, and human resilience. Despite the hiccups, both say they’re ready for more.
“I’d go back in a heartbeat,” Williams told Fox News.
With 608 total days in space, Williams now holds the second-highest record for any U.S. astronaut—a milestone in a mission that proved, once again, that space is hard, but NASA astronauts are tougher.