Astronaut Butch Wilmore has retired from NASA less than five months after returning from a problematic test mission that took him on the International Space Station much longer than expected, the space agency announced Wednesday.
Wilmore, along with NASA astronaut Snie Williams, piloted the first crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft last year. The mission attracted global attention when the spacecraft was experiencing some serious problems on its way to the thruster station.
Williams and Wilmore were expected to stay in orbit for about eight days. However, NASA and Boeing spent several weeks identifying what went wrong with the vehicle and assessing whether Starliner was safe to take the astronaut home.
The space agency ultimately decided to return the duo to Earth on a Starliner. NASA announced last August that Williams and Wilmore would be in the rotation of the crew of the upcoming International Space Station alongside two other astronauts on the SpaceX Crew 9 mission, and will be riding in orbital labs for several more months.
Williams and Wilmore eventually returned home in March. Astronauts live on space stations on a daily basis for more than six months when working on staff rotation missions, so it is not uncommon for them to stay in such orbits.
Both astronauts have maintained a fully prepared position for extended stays in space, and each states they understand the risks and uncertainties associated with testing to fly a spacecraft for the first time.
Williams and Wilmore also repeatedly sought to be “forsaken,” “stuck,” or “stuck” in space.
“It was a story from day one. I’m stuck, abandoned, stuck. And I got it. “Help change the story. Let’s change preparation and commitment despite what you’ve been hearing. That’s what we like.”
Wilmore’s “content on NASA’s mission and dedication to human space exploration are truly exemplary,” said Steve Corner, representative director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where astronauts are on the train.
“His lasting and flashy legacy,” Koerner added.
Wilmore’s departure from NASA follows the example set up by Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, two astronauts who piloted the first crew test flight of SpaceX’s crew Dragon Capsule in 2020.
Wilmore, a naval officer and test pilot who served on 21 combat missions, joined NASA’s Corps of Astronauts in 2000.
He flew to three missions during his 25 years of service, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission and the trip to the space station of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
In particular, when he returned to Earth with SpaceX capsules in March, Wilmore said that if given the opportunity, he would theoretically fly to one of Boeing’s Starliner capsules.
“We’ll fix all the issues we encounter. We’ll fix them. We’ll make them work,” Wilmore said at a March 31 press conference. “So I’m on my heartbeat.”
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