Summary
We’re wrapping up our coverage of the highly publicized and very politicized return of Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who ended up staying on the International Space Station for nine months after what they thought would be a quick mission of less than two weeks. Here are the key points:
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A SpaceX capsule holding the two astronauts, as well as Nasa’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashed down successfully off the coast of Florida at about 5.57pm EST on Tuesday.
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The capsule’s photogenic landing, on an exceptionally calm and sunny day, was capped off with the appearance of several dolphins who swam around the bobbing spacecraft. Read Richard Luscombe’s detailed account here.
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The four astronauts emerged, grinning, from the space capsule onto the recovery vessel, and then were taken for medical evaluation. They were slated to fly by helicopter to Florida, and then to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where they would be reunited with their families and continue to adjust to their return to Earth.
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At a Nasa press conference in Houston, Nasa administrators largely dodged questions about the truth of Trump and Musk’s claims about the astronauts having been “stranded” or “abandoned” by the Biden administration, as well as Musk’s suggestion that Trump deserved credit for “prioritizing this mission”. One official said Nasa was responsible for safe missions and doing science in space, not for what is said in the media.
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But Nasa officials did emphasize that they saw value in working with multiple private contractors, both Boeing and SpaceX, to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station, and that Boeing, despite problems with its previous mission, remained committed to its spaceflight program.
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The Guardian’s Michael Sainato had an inside look at Nasa workers’ concerns at coming cuts at the government agency and the role of Elon Musk, currently the most powerful member of Trump’s administration, who also owns SpaceX, a private space company and major government contractor.
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Meanwhile, if you’re wondering what exactly is happening to the astronauts as their bodies adjust to earth after nine months in space, my colleague Helen Sullivan has the answers.
Key events
Why had Nasa not pushed back “more emphatically” against the use of astronauts as “political pawns” by prominent space contractors, and against the “fictitious narrative” that was “woven around” this mission, particularly since these space missions are actually funded by the public, a British journalist from the Times asked.
“Our job at Nasa is to successfully and safely fly these missions. We fly it with the laws of physics and we fly it with commercial partners. Oftentimes, there may be [information] out in the press that may not be exactly what happens. Our job is to fly these missions,” Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator of Nasa’s space operations mission directorate, said, emphasising that Nasa wanted to focus on completing the important scientific research they do in space.
Another question: will there be any psychological studies of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to evaluate the effects not just of a prolonged stay in space, but an unexpected and more uncertain one?
All crew members go through lots of surveys and evaluations, and Bill Spetch, operations integration manager of Nasa’s International Space Station program. “There’s always adjustments we have to make,” Spetch said, emphasizing that many space flights have last-minute changes that astronauts have to adapt to.
The New York Times’ Kenneth Chang asked a direct question: as Trump and Musk claim victory for “rescuing” the two astronauts, and Musk said that Trump had prioritized the mission, was it the case that anything would have actually gone differently in the return mission’s timing if Kamala Harris had been elected president?
Nasa works for the president, and they work hard to carry out the directives of whoever is president, said Joel Montalbano, the deputy associate administrator of Nasa’s space operations mission Directorate, not really answering the question.
Nasa officials have continued to emphasise that they see value in having multiple commercial contractors working to transport astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station, and that both Boeing and Musk’s SpaceX are important partners going forward.
Yes, in this case, Stich said, there was a problem with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, and SpaceX brought the astronauts home.
“Someday there may be a case where we’re using [Boeing’s] Starliner to handle a [SpaceX] Dragon contingency,” added Stich, the manager of Nasa’s commercial crew program.
When a journalist pressed on whether Boeing was really committed to continuing its spacecraft program, given its tremendous cost, Stich said he believed the company was.
“Boeing all the way up to their new CEO Kelly [Ortberg] has been committed to Starliner. I can see that in how they’re approaching their solution to the problems,” he said.
A reporter has finally asked Nasa officials the obvious: how did rhetoric about the astronauts being “stranded in space”, from people like Elon Musk and Donald Trump, affect Nasa and the actual mission?
Stich, the manager of Nasa’s commercial crew program, mildly talks around this question, saying: “We looked for opportunities to bring the crew back when it was safe to do so.”
Nasa’s Steve Stich praises Wilmore and Williams’ adaptability
Steve Stich, the manager of Nasa’s commercial crew program, said that the incredible adaptability of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, in pivoting from serving on what they thought would be a short-term mission to becoming longer-term members of the ISS crew, is a good sign of astronauts’ preparation for future space exploration. He mentioned in particular possible “harsh” missions to the surface of Mars, as well as missions to the moon.
Boeing also had a watch party for the splashdown and are “keenly interested” in Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ return and have been texting him about it, Steve Stich, the manager of Nasa’s commercial crew program, said.
This comment is interesting because it comes more than nine months after the failure of Boeing’s pioneering Starliner capsule scuppered the two astronauts’ originally scheduled week-long mission, as my colleague Richard Luscombe explained.
Both Boeing and SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, are major space contractors that work with the US government and the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX, Musk’s company, is the one that worked with Nasa to bring the astronauts home today.
Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on 6 June last year, intending to stay long enough to evaluate Starliner’s docking and operational capabilities during its first crewed flight and return home no more than 10 days later. But a series of technical issues and safety fears led Nasa and Boeing to send the capsule back to Earth empty in September, and extend the pair’s stay by making them crew members onboard the space station in place of two other astronauts still on the ground, who were reassigned to other, future missions.
“You could see the dolphins swimming around the capsule, which was kind of incredible,” Steve Stich, manager of Nasa’s commercial crew program, says, echoing many other observers of the landing.
Nasa press conference: ‘It’s awesome to have Crew-9 home’
“It is awesome to have Crew-9 home. Just a beautiful landing,” Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator of Nasa’s space operations mission directorate, says as an opening. (We are not expecting much news from this press conference, so this comment is pretty much on track for that.)
“SpaceX has been an incredible partner,” Montalbano adds, suggesting this mission is a great example of the power of Nasa’s public-private partnerships.
Again, more context on the behind-the-scenes status of the Nasa-Space X relationship:
We’re standing by for Nasa’s post-splashdown news conference, which is scheduled to start shortly at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and is also being streamed on Nasa+.
We’re not expecting anything particularly shocking from a press conference about what appears to have been a pretty straightforward and successful landing. Here are the scheduled speakers:
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Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, Nasa’s space operations mission directorate
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Steve Stich, manager, Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program
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Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, Nasa’s International Space Station program
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Sarah Walker, director, Dragon mission management, SpaceX
