Current:Home > ScamsNASA astronauts who will spend extra months at the space station are veteran Navy pilots -ProfitPioneers Hub
NASA astronauts who will spend extra months at the space station are veteran Navy pilots
View
Date:2025-04-17 06:07:00
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The two astronauts who will spend extra time at the International Space Station are Navy test pilots who have ridden out long missions before.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been holed up at the space station with seven others since the beginning of June, awaiting a verdict on how — and when — they would return to Earth.
NASA decided Saturday they won’t be flying back in their troubled Boeing capsule, but will wait for a ride with SpaceX in late February, pushing their mission to more than eight months. Their original itinerary on the test flight was eight days.
Butch Wilmore
Wilmore, 61, grew up in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, playing football for his high school team and later Tennessee Technological University. He joined the Navy, becoming a test pilot and racking up more than 8,000 hours of flying time and 663 aircraft carrier landings. He flew combat missions during the first Gulf War in 1991 and was serving as a flight test instructor when NASA chose him as an astronaut in 2000.
Wilmore flew to the International Space Station in 2009 as the pilot of shuttle Atlantis, delivering tons of replacement parts. Five years later, he moved into the orbiting lab for six months, launching on a Russian Soyuz from Kazakhstan and conducting four spacewalks.
Married with two daughters, Wilmore serves as an elder at his Houston-area Baptist church. He’s participated in prayer services with the congregation while in orbit.
His family is used to the uncertainty and stress of his profession. He met wife Deanna amid Navy deployments, and their daughters were born in Houston, astronauts’ home base.
“This is all they know,” Wilmore said before the flight.
Suni Williams
Williams, 58, is the first woman to serve as a test pilot for a new spacecraft. She grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, the youngest of three born to an Indian-born brain researcher and a Slovene American health care worker. She assumed she’d go into science like them and considered becoming a veterinarian. But she ended up at the Naval Academy, itching to fly, and served in a Navy helicopter squadron overseas during the military buildup for the Gulf War.
NASA chose her as an astronaut in 1998. Because of her own diverse background, she jumped at the chance to go to Russia to help behind the scenes with the still new International Space Station. In 2006, she flew up aboard shuttle Discovery for her own lengthy mission. She had to stay longer than planned — 6 1/2 months — after her ride home, Atlantis, suffered hail damage at the Florida pad. She returned to the space station in 2012, this time serving as its commander.
She performed seven spacewalks during her two missions and even ran the Boston Marathon on a station treadmill and competed in a triathlon, substituting an exercise machine for the swimming event.
Husband Michael Williams, a retired U.S. marshal and former Naval aviator, is tending to their dogs back home in Houston. Her widowed mother is the one who frets.
“I’m her baby daughter so I think she’s always worried,” Williams said before launching.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
Ranking
- Immigration issues sorted, Guatemala runner Luis Grijalva can now focus solely on sports
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
Recommendation
Louisiana high court temporarily removes Judge Eboni Johnson Rose from Baton Rouge bench amid probe
Don't let hackers fool you with a 'scam
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease