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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are set to meet with Boeing executives this Wednesday to review the events that occurred during their previous mission aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. On June 5, 2024, the astronauts left for space on the Starliner, but difficulties led to the spacecraft's uncrewed return to Earth on September 7. Wilmore and Williams later made their return journey on a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18.
At a NASA post-flight press briefing held on March 31, the astronauts, along with Crew-9 commander Nick Hague, addressed questions for the first time since landing back on Earth after spending over nine months in space. Both Wilmore and Williams expressed a willingness to fly on the Starliner again and recognized their own roles in the issues faced during the mission.
Williams expressed optimism about Starliner’s capabilities and emphasized the importance of learning from past challenges. According to a spacepolicyonline.com report, the crew is not interested in assigning blame but focusing on using the experience to achieve future success. Wilmore stated, “There were questions that I had as commander of the spacecraft that I should have asked and I did not.” He further noted that accountability extends throughout the program, involving both Boeing and NASA.
