NASA’s ‘stranded’ astronauts speak out: Butch Wilmore opens up about 'missing daughter’s high school year'

When NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams embarked on what was supposed to be an eight-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024, they had no idea they were signing up for a nearly year-long stay in orbit. Their unexpected extended mission, which stretched into nine months, turned them into unwilling space pioneers, drawing global attention as their return to Earth was repeatedly postponed.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, their prolonged absence became more than just a professional challenge—it became a deeply personal one. And for Wilmore, missing his daughter’s high school year was perhaps the hardest moment since he mentioned it out of all.

The Moment They Learned They Weren’t Coming Home

In a recent interview with Fox News, Wilmore and Williams opened up about the moment they learned their mission had been extended indefinitely.

Williams recalled her initial reaction with an air of resilience. “My first thought was, we just got to pivot, right? I was like, ‘OK, let’s make the best of it.’ We trained for long stays, so we just jumped into our tasks.”

Wilmore, however, had a different response—one that required him to set aside his emotions and focus on his duty. “It’s not about me, it’s not about my feelings,” he said, recalling how he mentally prepared himself. “It’s about what this human spaceflight program is about. It’s our national goals.”

But even the steely resolve of a veteran astronaut couldn’t entirely suppress the pain of missing a once-in-a-lifetime moment back home. “Did I think about not being there for my daughter’s high school year? Of course… but I couldn’t let that interfere with what I was called to do.”

The Psychological and Physical Toll of Nine Months in Space

While Wilmore and Williams have finally returned to Earth, their ordeal isn’t quite over. Extended stays in space come with serious physical consequences. The human body, accustomed to gravity, reacts dramatically to prolonged weightlessness. Their muscles have atrophied, their bones have weakened, and even their eyesight may have been affected. Scientists will now closely monitor their recovery, studying the long-term impacts of such an unexpectedly extended mission.

While their time in space may have made history, for Wilmore, the real mission was always back on Earth—where he now has time to make up for the moments he missed.

Who is to blame?

Wilmore and Williams also reflected on the ordeal, addressing the blame game that followed. While political figures and critics targeted the Biden administration and Boeing, Wilmore acknowledged that multiple factors contributed to the delay, including flawed testing and overlooked signals. He also took some personal responsibility, admitting there were questions he should have asked during the mission planning.

Wilmore emphasized that the focus should be on learning from the experience rather than assigning blame. The veteran astronaut called for NASA and Boeing to use this situation as a stepping stone for improving future missions and ensuring that astronauts are never put in a similar predicament again.