NASA Starliner crew do not feel 'let down' by Boeing's spaceship

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke about their continued stay aboard the International Space Station during a press conference held yesterday. The two are now fully incorporated into the ISS crew, as the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that was meant to take them home last week was instead sent back to Earth uncrewed. First, they were asked if they were "disappointed" with Boeing.

"Absolutely not," Wilmore said.

NASA decided not to send the two back after engine problems and helium leaks were discovered on the Starliner. But Wilmore said that with more time, "I think we could have gotten to a point where we could have gotten back to the Starliner. But we didn't have enough time." Instead, the pair became part of the ISS crew. Williams, who said Wilmore will soon become ISS commander, said the transition to space station command "wasn't that difficult" because she and Wilmore had been preparing for the station for years prior to their flight earlier this year. She said the return of SpaceX's Dragon capsule at the end of NASA's Crew-9 mission was a unique opportunity for the two test pilots, adding: "I mean, we're testers, that's what we do."

No astronauts expressed concerns about long stays on the ISS. "Space is my favorite place," Williams said. ".Every day you do some kind of 'work,' and you can do it upside down or sideways, so it adds a little bit of a different perspective." NASA's Crew-9 mission is scheduled to launch later this month and return two astronauts to Earth as early as next February.