'This is my happy place; it’s just fun,' says Sunita Williams in her first comments from Space Station
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who were the test pilots of the trouble-ridden Boeing Starliner space capsule, addressed Earth from space on Friday. This was the duo's first comment since they were launched into the International Space Station (ISS) in June, in what was supposed to be an eight-day mission.
Eight-day mission that became eight months
Due to technical issues on the Boeing Starliner, which raised serious concerns about the mission and the crew's safety, the space capsule returned to Earth last week, unmanned, leaving the astronauts behind in the ISS. They are not expected to return to Earth before February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.?
My happy place: Williams
Amid concerns about their mental and physical well-being due to the extended stay in the ISS, in their first address to Earth, the astronauts said they feel "grateful" to spend more time in space, despite difficulties.
“This is my happy place. I love being up here in space. It’s just fun, you know?” Indian-origin astronaut Williams said Friday in her first news conference from the ISS.
'Happy that Statliner is safe'
The 58-year-old veteran of space missions said although she was disappointed to have to watch the Boeing Starliner return to Earth without them, she was happy that it was safe.
“We wanted to take Starliner to completion and land back on land at home, but you know, you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity,” Williams said.
Wilmore also echoed Williams and said that he was not disappointed by NASA or Boeing or the decisions that led to their stay on the ISS for an extended period.
"We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time," Wilmore said.
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