Why Sunita Williams Chose Not to Return on Starliner, Despite the Possibility

On June 5, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched on the Starliner for its inaugural crewed mission, which was initially planned to last eight days in orbit.

Boston Brand Media presents the latest news from Los Angeles, United States: A US astronaut aboard the International Space Station shared on Friday that Boeing's Starliner could have returned him to Earth if more time had been available to address the spacecraft's technical issues. Last week, astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams watched the Starliner, which brought them to the ISS three months earlier, return to Earth without them.

"We could have reached the point where we returned on Starliner, but we simply ran out of time," Wilmore said in a video press conference on Friday.

On June 5, astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched aboard Boeing's Starliner for its first crewed mission, initially planned to last eight days in orbit. However, due to technical issues with the spacecraft, their stay on the International Space Station has been extended to eight months. Last month, NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams would return in February aboard SpaceX's Crew-9 flight.

Wilmore expressed no disappointment in the extended stay but acknowledged disagreements about how their return should be handled. He explained that unresolved concerns about Starliner prompted the decision to return with SpaceX instead.

"We found some issues we weren't comfortable with, given other options," Wilmore said. Despite not being on Starliner's return to Earth, Williams expressed relief that the spacecraft landed without problems, adding, "You have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity."

Both astronauts emphasized the importance of resilience in adjusting to their new return timeline, with Wilmore noting, "We are trained to handle all types of situations."

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