NASA’s stranded astronauts have made a desperate plea from the International Space Station (ISS), following news of an early return to Earth.
Sunita Williams, 59, and Butch Wilmore, 62, spoke from the orbiting lab Thursday, imploring the world to not feel sorry for them.
‘We don’t feel abandoned. We don’t feel stuck. We don’t feel stranded,’ Wilmore told CNN. ‘I understand why others may think that. We come prepared.
‘So if you’ll help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative, let’s change it to ‘prepared and committed.’
The astronauts also admitted they needed to come home, but noted that keeping the normal cycle of astronauts on the ISS going is critical.
This handover period requires a new crew to take over the ISS from the previous crew.
The statements come as NASA announced the pair will return home on March 19, about two weeks earlier than the previous schedule, after launching the incoming crew on March 12.
The space agency’s decision to bring them home sooner came on the heels of President Donald Trump calling on Elon Musk to make the mission happen after saying the Biden Administration abandoned the team.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams admitted Thursday that they need to come home
However, the noted it is critical to wait for the incoming crew to take over their duties before leaving
‘I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to ‘go get’ the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on January 28.
‘They have been waiting many months on [the] Space Station,’ he continued.’Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!’
Musk responded shortly after with a post on X, vowing to retrieve Williams and Wilmore as soon as possible. He also criticized former President Joe Biden for not acting sooner.
‘Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long,’ Musk lamented.
However, Wilmore’s comments about how he and his crewmate are not abandoned seem to be a hit at Musk’s statement.
Williams and Wilmore launched inside Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the ISS on June 5, 2024, with plans of an eight-day stay on the ship.
However, the capsule was plagued with issues from the moment it launched to when it docked on the ISS on June 6.
After weeks of tests, NASA ultimately decided that Starliner was not safe enough to carry humans back to Earth and in September, the doomed spacecraft was sent home empty.
The astronauts pleaded with the world to not see them as abandoned or stranded on the International Space Station. Pictured are Williams and Wilmore on June 5 when they launched to the ISS
Williams and Wilmore launched inside Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the ISS on June 5, 2024, with plans of an eight-day stay on the ship. However, the capsule was plagued with issues from the moment it launched to when it docked on the ISS on June 6
Since Williams and Wilmore have become official members of NASA’s Crew 9 mission, they must wait to hand over with Crew 10 before leaving the station.
Originally, the Crew 10 mission was due to launch in February aboard a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
However, the mission had to be delayed when it emerged that SpaceX was not able to complete the construction and testing of the new capsule on time.
The earlier return date was due to SpaceX agreeing to use another capsule called Endurance that has flown to space three times.
‘The plan is that Crew 10 will launch on the 12th of March, they’ll come here, rendezvous and dock,’ Wilmore told CNN.
‘We’ll do a turnover for about a week and we will return on or about the 19th of March.’
Crew 10 includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The incoming crew will meet with Williams and Wilmore for a brief about ongoing scientific and maintenance projects that they will be taking over.
When asked why the two astronauts would not leave earlier than March 19, Wilmore said altering the cycle of astronauts on the ISS would send ‘ripple effects down the chain.’
‘We would never expect to come back… just special for us or anyone unless it was a medical issue or something really, really out of the circumstances along those lines,’ he added. ‘We need to come back and keep the normal cycle going.’
If Williams and Wilmore do return home in mid-March, their mission will have lasted two months longer than a standard long-term ISS mission that typically lasts six months.
While their protracted stay is notable, it has not yet surpassed Frank Rubio’s record-breaking 371 days aboard the ISS.
Rubio completed his mammoth mission in 2023 after the Russian spacecraft designated for his return developed a coolant leak.
Upon his return to Earth, Rubio’s legs had become so weak that he could not walk and had to be carried out of the capsule.
