The Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth last week without its crew, because according to the US space agency NASA, returning on board would have been too risky for the astronauts.
Astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station ISS in June Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams have commented on their extended visit to the station on Friday at a video conference. The astronauts were left on the station when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft carrying them had to return to Earth last week without its crew.
– This has been trying at times, says Wilmore.
– He doesn’t want to see his ship leave without you, but this is what happened here, he adds.
The mission planned for eight days has turned into a mission of more than eight months, as the Starliner was unable to start the return journey as scheduled due to technical problems with the control system.
– This is how things sometimes go in this job, says Williams.
According to Williams, as test pilots of the Starliner, he and Wilmore knew how to prepare for some kind of problems, but no one knew how to prepare for such a long delay.
The Starliner returned without its crew, because according to the US space agency NASA, returning on board would have been too risky for the astronauts.
– I believe we could have reached a situation where we could have returned on the Starliner, but we simply ran out of time, says Wilmore.
Wilmore and Williams will return home aboard Space X next February.
Sources: AP, AFP