{"id":24404,"date":"2025-03-19T16:16:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24404"},"modified":"2025-03-19T16:16:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:16:55","slug":"suni-williams-says-she-will-likely-never-return-to-space-after-8-day-mission-turned-into-9-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24404","title":{"rendered":"Suni Williams says she will likely never return to space after 8-day mission turned into 9 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Suni Williams reflect on their unexpectedly long mission as they head home after 286 days in space.<\/p>\n

What was supposed to be an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) turned into almost nine months due to technical failures on the Boeing Starliner.<\/p>\n

As they prepared to leave,\u00a0emotions ran high<\/a>\u00a0as Williams and Wilmore bid farewell to the new Crew-10 team, who are set to take over ISS operations for the next six months. Commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, are replacing Wilmore, Williams, and Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.<\/p>\n

After undocking from the\u00a0ISS<\/a>\u00a0at 05:05 GMT (01:05 EDT) on Tuesday (18 March), the astronauts are now travelling in a\u00a0SpaceX\u00a0<\/a>capsule on a 17-hour trip back to\u00a0Earth<\/a>. They’re expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at 21:57 GMT (17:57 EDT) later today.<\/p>\n

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\"Suni\"Suni<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Suni had said this space mission might be her last. Joe Raedle \/ Staff \/ Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, according to a\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0report, Suni was saddened at the fact this might be her last space mission. “I think just the fact that we’re living up here, in this very unique place, gives you an amazing perspective,” she described. “I don’t want to lose that spark of inspiration when I leave, so I’m going to have to bottle it somehow.”<\/p>\n

Speaking in the weeks before their departure, Wilmore said\u00a0they weren’t fazed<\/a>\u00a0when their mission was extended.<\/p>\n

“We came up prepared to stay long, even though we plan to stay short,” he said. “That’s what we do in human space flight. That’s what your nation’s human space flight programme is all about.”<\/p>\n

The pair also\u00a0sent a message of appreciation to President Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk<\/a>, thanking them for their role in getting them home.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n