Astronauts Still Hopeful After Return To Earth Delayed

Two NASA astronauts have been in space for weeks longer than expected as Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft continues to undergo repairs.

But the interstellar duo, flight commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and flight pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, have managed to remain in positive spirits, according to a Wednesday press conference.

“We are having a great time here on ISS,” Williams said Wednesday. “Butch and I have been up here before and it feels like coming back home. It feels good to float around, it feels good to be in space and work up here with the International Space Station team. It’s great to be up here so I’m not complaining, Butch isn’t complaining, that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”

After years of technical difficulties during its development, the Starliner departed Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5.

“Launch was spectacular. I mean, truly amazing,” Wilmore said Wednesday. “The spacecraft performed unbelievably well.”

The trip was initially supposed to be a weeklong test drive of the new spaceship, but Wilmore and Williams have been at the International Space Station since June 6 addressing helium leaks and other issues, according to NPR.

Despite the issues, Boeing previously told HuffPost that the spacecraft has “never been ‘stuck’ or ‘stranded’ on the ISS,” adding that it’s cleared for return in case of an emergency.

“We’ve been through a lot of simulations … and I think where we are right now, … if there was a problem with the International Space Station, we could get in our spacecraft, we could undock, talk to our team and figure out the best way to come home,” Williams said Wednesday.

Wilmore also said he was “confident” that Starliner could get them back home.

There is no specific date of return scheduled at the moment. However, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said at Wednesday’s press conference that the hope is to get Wilmore and Williams home by August, at which time more astronauts will arrive at the ISS.

“That’s kind of a back end. I think we’re really working to try to follow the data and see when’s the earliest that we could target for undock and landing,” Stich said. “Some of the data suggest optimistically, maybe, it’s by the end of July, but we’ll just follow the data.”