In a candid interview, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams shared their experiences during the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight which left them stranded in space for nine months. According to Wilmore, thruster failures almost doomed the pair to a fate far worse than an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.
The inaugural crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024 was marked by a series of thruster failures that left NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in a precarious position. In a recent interview, the astronauts provided a detailed account of the harrowing events that transpired during the flight, which left them stranded in space until they were rescued by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The interview reveals that the astronauts came far closer to a catastrophic failure and subsequent death in orbit than was previously known.
The June 2024 launch of Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, appeared to go smoothly at first. “Oh man, the launch was awesome,” Williams said. “Both of us looked at each other like, ‘Wow, this is going just perfectly.'”
However, as the Starliner approached the ISS for docking, a series of thruster failures put the mission and the lives of the astronauts in jeopardy. Wilmore, who had to take manual control of the vehicle, expressed his concern about the situation, stating, “I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point. I don’t know if we can. And matter of fact, I’m thinking we probably can’t.”
The loss of thrusters violated the mission’s flight rules, which dictated that the crew should abort the docking attempt and return to Earth. However, with the uncertainty surrounding Starliner’s ability to safely deorbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts and Mission Control faced a difficult decision.
Flight directors at NASA’s Mission Control in Houston, led by Ed Van Cise, decided to waive the flight rules and proceed with the docking attempt. They worked tirelessly to develop a plan to reset the failed thrusters, effectively rebooting the system to restore functionality. Wilmore, who had to relinquish manual control during the thruster reset, described the moment as incredibly tense. “That was not easy to do,” he said, acknowledging the years of training and preparation that had led to this critical juncture.
Fortunately, the thruster reset was partially successful, bringing two of the four failed thrusters back online. However, a fifth thruster failed shortly after, leaving Starliner in a precarious position once again. “What if we’d have lost that fifth jet while those other four were still down?” Wilmore questioned. “I have no idea what would’ve happened.” This failure could have resulted in the astronauts stuck in a Boeing craft unable to dock with the ISS or return to Earth. This would have likely resulted in the death of the crew.
Despite the ongoing challenges, Starliner managed to dock with the ISS, much to the relief of the astronauts and Mission Control. Williams expressed her joy at the successful docking, saying, “I did this little happy dance. One, of course, just because I love being in space and am happy to be on the space station and [with] great friends up there. Two, just really happy that Starliner docked to the space station.”
In the aftermath of the docking, NASA and Boeing engineers worked diligently to assess Starliner’s condition and determine whether it was safe for the astronauts to return to Earth in the spacecraft. Wilmore and Williams remained skeptical about Starliner’s ability to bring them home safely, given the thruster issues they had experienced.
“I was very skeptical, just because of what we’d experienced,” Wilmore said. “I just didn’t see that we could make it. I was hopeful that we could, but it would’ve been really tough to get there, to where we could say, ‘Yeah, we can come back.'”
Ultimately, the decision was made to fly Starliner home without crew, and Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth in March 2025 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft after a nine-month stay on the ISS.
When asked how he endured being stranded in space, Wilmore praised Jesus Christ and publicly proclaimed his faith in the Lord.
Read more at Ars Technica here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
