A video shared by NASA shows astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Suni Williams speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. NASA
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are just weeks away from returning home after spending nine months in space. Their return was delayed, but they are now preparing to board a SpaceX capsule later this month. Before they leave, their replacements must arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) next week.
Wilmore and Williams will be joined by two astronauts who launched last September. Those astronauts traveled with two empty seats, which will now be used for the returning crew.
During a recent news conference, Wilmore addressed questions about politics influencing their delayed return. He clarified that political factors did not play a role in their extended stay. However, Williams disagreed with SpaceX owner Elon Musk’s suggestion to abandon the ISS in two years instead of NASA’s plan to keep it operational until 2031.
“This place is ticking. It’s just really amazing,” Williams said. “We’re actually in our prime right now.” She emphasized the valuable scientific research happening aboard the space station and argued that now is not the right time to shut it down.
Williams also shared her excitement about reuniting with her Labrador retrievers. She admitted that the hardest part of the extended mission was knowing their families were waiting for them.
“It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably more than for us,” she said. “We’re here, we have a mission, and every day is interesting because we’re in space.”
When Wilmore and Williams launched in June last year, they expected to stay only a week. They were testing Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, which had already been delayed for years. However, the capsule faced serious technical problems on its way to the space station, and NASA deemed it unsafe for human travel. As a result, it was sent back to Earth without them.
The astronauts' return was further delayed due to the time needed to prepare a new SpaceX capsule to bring their replacements. NASA later decided to use an older SpaceX capsule instead, moving the new crew’s launch to March 12. The two teams will spend a week together at the ISS before Wilmore and Williams return home with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
Despite the unexpected delay, Wilmore and Williams have remained focused and committed to their mission. In January, they even conducted a spacewalk together. Both are retired Navy captains with previous spaceflight experience.
For their trip home, they will wear standard SpaceX flight suits instead of the usual custom-made ones with their names. Since their return in a Dragon capsule was unplanned, personalized suits were not prepared. Wilmore jokingly suggested he might write his name on his suit with a pen.
