Screen capture showing Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore at a March 4, 2025 NASA news conference (Credit: NASA/X)
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have spent the last nine months in space, are finally on the cusp of returning to Earth. Their homecoming is scheduled for later this month, though they must first wait for their replacements to arrive at the International Space Station next week. During a news conference on Tuesday, both astronauts expressed their excitement about coming back after such a lengthy mission.
When asked what she would miss most about space, Williams, the first Asian American woman to command a mission, said, “Everything about space. This has been Butch and my third flight to the ISS. We helped put it together, and we’ve been up here watching it change.”
Williams also shared how much she has enjoyed living and working in space.
“Just living here gives us a unique perspective—not just outside the window, but on how to solve problems. I don’t want to lose that spark of inspiration and perspective when I leave, so I’m going to have to bottle it up, somehow,” she added.
Williams and Wilmore’s stay, initially planned for just a week, began in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, which marked its crew debut after years of delays. However, technical difficulties with the Starliner led NASA to delay their return, leaving the capsule to return to Earth empty.
Further delays were caused by the time needed to complete a new SpaceX capsule for the crew’s replacement. In February, NASA confirmed that the next crew would launch in a used capsule, with the launch scheduled for March 12.