Stranded NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore has issued a message to President Donald Trump days after the rescue mission.
Both Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams were left stuck in space after experiencing faults with their Boeing spacecraft.
After NASA deemed it too unsafe for a return trip, the spacecraft came back to Earth empty and the pair’s eight-day mission turned into over nine months as they waited to be rescued.
Williams and Wilmore spent their time between June 2024 and March 2025 aboard the International Space Station before they hitched a lift with a SpaceX vessel earlier this month.
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Now, they have taken part in their first interview since returning home with America's Newsroom co-anchor Bill Hemmer.
When asked about their initial reactions to the news that their stay in space would be extended, Williams said: “My first thought was, ‘we’ve just gotta pivot, right?’. If this was the destiny of the way our spacecraft was gonna go home based on decisions made here then we’re gonna be up there until February, I was like, ‘okay, 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 jump into it and take on the task that were given to us.”
Wilmore added: “It’s not about me, it’s not about my feelings, it’s about what the spaceflight program is about. It’s our national goals and I have to wrap my mind around, ‘what does our nation need outta me right now?’.
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“Did I think about not being there for my daughters’ high school year? Of course, but compartmentalize.
“We’ve trained them to be resilient, my daughters and my family, we talk about these things. We talk about the fact that there’s no given, this is a test flight, we don’t know what’s gonna happen, we might not be back in eight days or whatever the plan was.
“Yeah, certainly deal with the personal side of it but I can’t let that interfere with what I’m called to do that day.”
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Speaking about attracting the attention of Trump and Elon Musk, Wilmore said: “I have no reason not believe anything they say because they have earned by trust and for that, I am grateful that our national leaders actually are coming in and taking part in our human spaceflight program which we see as hugely important global significance and they take an active role and based on the past and what we see know, based on them doing that, it’s refreshing.
“Not just refreshing, it’s empowering, it’s strengthening.”