Astronaut Butch Wilmore has expressed his views regarding the extended nine-month mission at the International Space Station that he and Suni Williams experienced.
The astronauts recently conducted their initial interview since returning to Earth on March 18. During a conversation with Fox News, they were questioned about who they believe is responsible for their prolonged stay. Figures like Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the White House had previously pointed fingers at the Biden administration.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the issue in a news conference, commenting: “These two incredible astronauts were only supposed to be up there for eight days, but because of the Biden administration’s lack of urgency, they ended up spending nine months in space.
“Joe Biden’s lack of courage to act boldly and decisively was a big reason why Butch and Suni did not make it back until [March 18]. But President Trump doesn’t waste time.”
Wilmore has now offered his perspective on the situation.
“Is Boeing to blame, are they culpable? Sure,” he told Fox News. “Is NASA to blame, are they culpable? Sure. Everybody has a piece in this because it did not come off.”
The astronauts reached the ISS using Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft but could not return in it due to technical problems.
Wilmore further remarked: “There were some shortcomings in tests. There were some shortcomings in preparation, that we did not foresee. Can you point fingers? I don’t want to point fingers. I hope nobody wants to point fingers.”
He prefers that instead of assigning blame to individuals or organizations, everyone involved learns from the experience.
“Let’s make the future even more productive and better,” Wilmore stated.
Wilmore also appeared to accept some responsibility, acknowledging: “There’s things that I did not ask that I should have asked.
“I didn’t know at the time that I needed to ask, but in hindsight, some of the signals were there.”
During the interview, Wilmore and Williams also shared their initial reactions upon learning that their stay at the ISS would be significantly longer than anticipated.
“My first thought was, we just got to pivot, right?” said Williams. “I was like, ‘OK, let’s make the best of it.’ We planned, we trained that we’d be there for some part of a time, so we were ready to just jump into it and take on the tasks that were given to us.”