Video (00:00):
Ignition sequence. 6, 5, 4… I feel the lift off clock has started. Lift off! We have a lift off!
(00:00)
Roger, 0G and I feel fine.
(00:00)
God speed, John Glen.
(00:00)
This is [inaudible 00:01:04] the eagle has landed.
(00:00)
Roger, Tranquility. We copy on the ground.
(00:00)
New possibilities are opening up for scientific cooperation between countries.
(00:00)
2, 1, 0. And we have a lift off! Lift off! Americans return to space as Discovery clears the tower.
(00:00)
Discovery, [inaudible 00:01:26].
(00:00)
Discovery, Roger. Going to deploy.
(00:00)
Everybody in the shuttle program, the crew is go for launch.
(00:00)
Roger that. We'll see you in orbit.
(00:00)
We have followed in their footsteps to get us where we are today.
Courtney (01:49):
Good afternoon and welcome to NASA's Johnson Space Center for our Crew-9 news conference today. We are joined today here in person with our Crew-9 astronauts, Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. We'll be taking questions. Before we do that, we'll kick it off with some opening remarks from our crew. Nick, go ahead.
Nick Hague (02:10):
Thanks Courtney. So, wanted to kick off with words that would describe what the Crew-9 Mission meant. And I think ultimately, it's unique, like every spaceflight mission tends to be. And you don't know exactly how they're going to play out, but I think that the Crew-9 mission, when it comes to it, it highlights to me safety and the importance of the mission and the balance of those two.
(02:38)
As you all know, back in the early fall, NASA was balancing the safe return of Suni and Butch with the need to continue the mission that's been going on board the Space Station for two and a half decades, up there performing research for the benefit of humanity. And so there was a decision made to send Alex and I up with a couple empty seats and integrate Butch and Suni into the crew of Crew-9 and then bring them back at the end of a long-duration spaceflight mission. And so we sit here today minus Alex, who's recuperating in Russia right now with friends and family, thankfully, and we sit here as a testament to the success of that mission. So, I look forward to answering your questions. Suni?
Suni Williams (03:29):
Yeah, sure. Just wanted to say thanks to Nick and Alex for coming up and getting us and bringing us home. And thanks to so many who prepared us for our mission. The commercial crew program with NASA and Boeing, as well as SpaceX really got us ready to go. All of the trainers here at Johnson Space Center, the mission control teams all over the country, in Florida to California. So, throughout the whole country. As well as what we're doing now. You know, our teams here are getting us ready to get rehab and get ready to take on new challenges.
(04:05)
So, feeling good since we've been back almost two weeks now. Actually went out and ran three miles yesterday, so I will give myself a little pat on the back. Our trainers are rocking it and getting us ready to get back to help out with the new astronauts as they're getting ready for their mission. So the biggest thing I want to say was, thank you.
Butch Wilmore (04:25):
Yeah, thank you Suni. Let me start off with a sports analogy. This very difficult job that we take part in, it's a team sport. It encompasses organizations throughout NASA, throughout the country coming together: the commercial crew program headquarters, the International Space Station program, working together day in and day out behind the scenes diligently to make all of this work together.
(04:52)
And then you couple that with a nation that comes together and cares about the human space flight program and prays for us and what's taking place. It goes beyond understanding, honestly. And then this organization also is incorporated into an international organization that reaches beyond our own borders and brings in the world like no other organization on or off the planet. And I can tell you it's simply a privilege to take part in all of that.
Courtney (05:21):
All right, thank you all for your opening remarks. We will go ahead and start taking questions now. If you're in the room, please raise your hand and we'll be sure to get a microphone over to you. If you're joining from our phone bridge, please press star one when you're ready to enter the queue. And due to the high volume of questions today that we are receiving, we ask that media start with one question and if we have time for a second round, we'll come back around to you. We'll start here in the first row with any questions. Mark, go ahead.
Mark Strassman (05:49):
Mark Strassman, CBS News. Welcome back, everyone. Good to talk to all of you again. We're meeting in this auditorium for a reason. There are roughly 60 news outlets represented here, another 120 or so on the phone. Butch and Suni, have you been surprised by the continuing and intense interest in your space saga?
Suni Williams (06:08):
I would have to say yes, absolutely. It's interesting, we go and launch and we knew it was a little bit unique, obviously first time flying on a new spacecraft. So yeah, that was interesting. But then life goes on up there and I mentioned yesterday we pivoted and we are International Space station Crew members and we're doing what all of our other friends in the astronaut office do, is go and work and train and do amazing science experiments up on the International Space Station.
(06:35)
So I think you sort of get maybe a little bit tunnel visioned in what your job is. So it's the, you know, do your job type of thing, right? And so you're not really aware of what else is going on down here. I hate to say that. Maybe the world doesn't revolve around us, but we revolve around the world, something like that. But I think we were just really focused on what we were doing and trying to be part of the team and making sure we pulled our weight for the team.
(07:02)
Of course, we heard some things and I'll obviously hand this off to Butch. Heard some stuff from our friends and family that people were interested and wondering what was going on and concerned about our health and all that kind of stuff while we're up there. But I mean we were just part of the team doing the job, filling in wherever we could and then knowing that there's rotational flights and we'll be coming home eventually on a rotational flight.
(07:23)
So, no, I don't think we were aware to the degree. Pretty honored and humbled by the fact of when we came home like, wow. There are a lot of people who are interested. Very thankful, very amazed that we could hopefully be one positive element to bring people together.
Butch Wilmore (07:40):
Yeah, I don't know that there's much I could add to that. Just thankful for a nation that cares, a nation that prays and a nation that is involved in the processes that are important to all of us.
Courtney (07:52):
Okay, we'll take our next question here in the room. Tom, go ahead.
Tom Costello (07:56):
Hi, Tom Costello with NBC News. Again, welcome back. Nice to see you all. Everybody's been thinking about you and worried about you. And I'm wondering, once you got your feet back on terra firma, what's the first thing both of you wanted to do? And were there any foods you were craving after nine plus months?
Butch Wilmore (08:14):
Go ahead, Suni.
Suni Williams (08:15):
Oh yeah, I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs. And I'll say that in that order, but maybe not. No, I'm just joking. But of course food, something that's just for home, for me. Something that is very, you know, reminds you of home. And my father was a vegetarian, so I had a good grilled cheese sandwich when I got home, so that reminded me of him.
Butch Wilmore (08:36):
Yeah, certainly embracing the family again, but also the opportunity, and I've already said it a couple of times, is just to say thank you to a nation that got involved in all of this. It makes it special, not just for us, but for I think our nation as a whole. So thank you.
Courtney (08:51):
All right, we'll take our next question right here in the front row.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Thank you. My question's for Suni. When you first got off the plane in Houston, we saw you hug Zena Cardman and there was a nice exchange. If you could describe what happened and your gratitude towards the crew members who stepped aside so that you'd have seats coming back.
Suni Williams (09:12):
Yeah, it's a great observation, so thank you very much. Zena's awesome. Stephanie Wilson, awesome. When this whole thing was unraveling, my heart went out because it's just sort of like, "Wow, you're waiting for your space flight." Specifically Zena, as her first flight. Wow, it's a little bit rough to know that you were are going to be moved to a different flight, but at the same time, she is an awesome person, an awesome astronaut. She's going to get the opportunity and this just wasn't the right flight for her to be on at that moment in time.
(09:44)
And so I just gave her a big, huge hug. I told her that I used her Crew-9 shirt when we were up there for a photo op, but I packed it back up real nicely and put it in her stuff. And little joking aside, I just wanted to really tell her, "Thank you for taking one for the team." And that's what our office is about, but she needed to have that acknowledgement.
Courtney (10:06):
Okay, we'll take one more question here in the room and then we'll head to our phone bridge.
Jeff Saperstone (10:11):
Hi, this question is for Sunita. I'm Jeff Saperstone, by the way, from NBC in Boston. A lot of people in your hometown, in Needham, they've been watching this-
Suni Williams (10:20):
Go Sox.
Jeff Saperstone (10:20):
… bit by bit, every moment. Yeah. Everybody at the elementary school, there was a big watch party for you when you came home. What's your message to them? They've been so anxiously awaiting for you to return.
Suni Williams (10:31):
Oh, well I'm back. First and foremost, we were always coming back and I think people need to know that. And we're back to actually share our story with so many people because, like you all mentioned, it's slightly unique and there's some lessons learned to it. And part of that is just resilience and being able to take a turn that was unexpected and make the best of it.
(10:56)
I think that is the biggest thing that I want to pass down, particularly to kids who think that their life should be the straight arrow to what you want to do and you're just going to get there. Well, sometimes it takes some turns, some rights, and some lefts and you just keep focused on your goal and other doors might be open for you. So, I think that's the biggest message.
Courtney (11:17):
All right, we'll head to our phone bridge. Our first question there is from Marcia Dunn with the Associated Press.
Marcia Dunn (11:25):
Welcome back, everybody. Butch, this question is for you. Where do you lay the blame for your Starliner test flight? Clearly, Starliner was not ready to fly when it did. Whom do you hold responsible for everything that happened? Thanks.
Butch Wilmore (11:40):
That is a question that I cannot answer in a couple of comments, but I'll start with me. There were some issues, of course, that happened with Starliner. There were some issues, of course, that happened that prevented us from returning on Starliner, and I'll start with me.
(11:56)
There were questions that I, as the commander of the spacecraft, that I should have asked and I did not. At the time, I didn't know I needed to, and maybe you could call that hindsight, but I'll start and point the finger and I'll blame me. I could've ask some questions and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide. So blame, that's a term, I don't like that term, but certainly there's responsibility throughout all the programs and certainly you can start with me.
(12:24)
Responsibility with Boeing? Yes. Responsibility with NASA? Yes, all the way up and down the chain. We all are responsible. We all own this and we are… In this business, trust, you cannot do this business without trust. You have to have ultimate trust and for someone to step forward in these different organizations and say, "Hey, I'm culpable for part of that issue," that goes a long way to maintaining trust.
(12:50)
So we're not going to look back and say, "This happened or that happened and that person's or that issue or that entity's to blame." We're going to look forward and say, "What are we going to use our lessons learned from this whole process and make sure that we are successful in the future?" This is a tough business, the analogy about it's…
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Hello, welcome back everyone. Hello. Welcome back everyone. It's nice seeing everyone return healthy and safe. I have a question for both you, Suni, and Butch. Given an opportunity, would you guys go up on Starliner again?
Butch Wilmore (13:32):
Yes, because we're going to rectify all the issues that we encounter.
Suni Williams (13:37):
Yeah.
Butch Wilmore (13:37):
We're going to fix it. We're going to make it work. Boeing's completely committed, NASA is completely committed, and with that I'd get on in heartbeat.
Suni Williams (13:48):
Yeah, I would agree. The spacecraft is really capable. There were a couple things that need to be fixed, like Butch mentioned, and folks are actively working on that. But it is a great spacecraft and it has a lot of capability that other spacecraft don't have. And to see that thing successful and to be part of that program is an honor.
Courtney (14:11):
Our next question is from Jackie, with the Times of London.
Jackie (14:16):
Yes. Hello and welcome back to Earth. I wondered about the stuck, stranded, marooned narrative and to what extent were you aware of that narrative playing out around that down here? And has that been frustrating for you to have to address? Thank you.
Butch Wilmore (14:31):
I'm sorry, that was a little garbled.
Nick Hague (14:36):
The stuck, marooned narrative.
Suni Williams (14:37):
Oh, stuck, marooned narrative.
Butch Wilmore (14:37):
Oh, the stuck, marooned narrative. We heard about that. Yeah, we heard about that.
Suni Williams (14:39):
Somebody mentioned that.
Butch Wilmore (14:41):
We've said this before. We had a plan, right? The plan went way off of what we had planned, but because we're in human spaceflight, we prepare for any number of contingencies because this is a curvy road. You never know where it's going to go. We prepare for this.
Butch Wilmore (15:00):
So we, as Suni used the term and it's a great term, we pivoted to all that training we did that we didn't think we needed to do and a lot of people didn't think we needed to do, but we did it anyway as we pivoted to this other preparation. And that is what makes human spaceflight, your human spaceflight program special. It is hard, like I said, and preparing for any number of contingencies is what we do. It happened to be me and Suni involved in this, but it could have been any one of the astronauts, there's 40 or so of us eligible for assignment. It would have been any one of us that would have been in the same situation or could have been in the same situation and would have done the exact same thing that we did because they would have gone prepared just like we did.
Suni Williams (15:41):
Yeah. One addition to that, this is a lot bigger than Butch and myself, like we've talked about already. This is the International Space Station program and there's a lot of wheels that are turning and wickets that we have to go through to get people up to the International Space Station to do all of the amazing science that we're doing up there. We recognize that. We know that, just like anybody else in the astronaut office. And we came, as Butch has mentioned before, prepared, and we are ready to do that pivot and be part of that bigger thing that's not just about us. Knowing that everybody on the ground, there's a huge team of people like I quickly mentioned in my quick thank you, but there's a huge group of people who are looking at the whole program and understanding how and what was the best time and way to get us back home. We knew that and we were ready to wait until that decision was made. And that was fine.
Butch Wilmore (16:32):
And I'll also add that we're grateful for people that I don't think that were looking just at us when they make recommendations, "We can do this, we can do that." They're looking what's best for the human spaceflight program for our nation's goals. They're not looking just about Suni and Butch. And we appreciate those entities that do that and reach out and say, "Hey, we can do this, we can do that, we can do that." And NASA says, "Hey, we got a plan. We came prepared. Here's what our plan is. And we think this is the best plan because it doesn't disrupt the flow of how these missions lay out." And that's the one we went with.
Courtney (17:08):
All right, we'll take our next question here in the room. Andrea, go ahead.
Andrea (17:13):
Thank you guys for being available today. So your mission became unusually political. Given your experience, do you think other astronauts are going to get nervous that they could be caught in the middle of a political fight? And is there a point where this starts to jeopardize safety of a mission when you start looking at all these politics that come into play? Thank you.
Butch Wilmore (17:29):
I think Nick's got some good insight on that.
Suni Williams (17:35):
Good job.
Nick Hague (17:38):
So the way I'd like to answer that is that when we're up there operating in space, you don't feel the politics, you don't feel any of that. It's focused strictly on mission. And you know, if I step back a little bit to the question before, Butch and Suni talk up here, they make it sound like you know, well, you know, everybody figured out what they could do with us. The reality is they are highly skilled, very technically competent, and it took everything I had on every day to keep up with them as they're moving along. So they were more than just gap tillers on the station. They were productive, pushing the station mission forward. And Suni was the station commander, so she was calling the shots.
(18:22)
So you get in that environment, that operational environment, the politics, they don't make it up there. We are working as a part of an international team that spans the globe and works with, you know, half a dozen mission control centers spread around the globe that are talking in multiple languages and we just figure out how to make it happen. And that's the magic of human spaceflight, is that we can focus on something so positive that pulls people together. And we've been doing that for a long time.
Courtney (18:53):
All right, we'll take our next question here in the room.
Jaewon Jung (18:58):
Hi, I'm Jaewon with KPRC, the NBC affiliate in Houston. This question is for Butch. I actually stopped by your church right before I came here and I heard that you were still attending your church services from space. Can you tell me a bit about why that was important for you to do?
Butch Wilmore (19:14):
Well, goodness, the word of God continually infilling me. I need it. My pastors are the finest pastors on, or off in this case, the planet. And to tie in and to worship with my church family was vital. I mean, it's part of what makes me go. And not only that, I also tied into Grace Baptist Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. A buddy of mine is an elder there and a pastor there. And I would watch their service as well every single week. And it was invigorating. It was part of what I need as a believer in Jesus Christ to continue that focus. It assisted me day in and day out because I need that fellowship even though it's fellowship from afar. And it's not like being fellowship up close, but still I needed it. So yeah. Thank you for that.
Courtney (20:03):
Okay, we'll head back to our phone bridge. Next up is Ryan with NASASpaceFlight.com.
Ryan (20:11):
Hi. Thank you. For the whole crew, of course this narrative that's being pushed out has made your mission probably the most popular NASA mission to the general public for as long as I can remember, probably since the retirement of the shuttle. But for the whole crew, do you think this extra attention has been a net positive or a net negative for the agency's sort of popularity and the spaceflight industry as a whole? Thank you.
Suni Williams (20:40):
I'll start with this one. You know, it's again an honor that actually people are paying attention and I'm very thankful that people are paying attention. And sometimes good news, bad news, it's just news and it's good for space exploration and that's what we're all about. You know, our mission, of course, building and working on the International Space Station was just awesome and we all had the opportunity to do that. But we also have bigger goals of exploring our solar system, going back to the moon, going on to Mars. And to get people understanding that it is hard, it is difficult, and what we do up there is really awesome. And I think at least that we had a little bit of that that came with the interest in this mission. And if we can perpetuate that and tell people a little bit more and have the opportunity, the forum to do that, I'm very thankful for that.
Courtney (21:32):
All right, our next question is from Nicole with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Nicole (21:38):
Hi there. Could you perhaps talk about how difficult it was being away from your friends and family, particularly since you hadn't prepared for that?
Butch Wilmore (21:52):
Difficult? Yes, I would say it was difficult. It wasn't in the preparation, but in my family we talk about these possibilities that we discussed all of this. We never said we were going to be gone for nine months, but it turned out that way. But the discussions we had, and it's not just discussions prior to the mission launch, this is the way we've trained our daughters from the time they were born because their dad is un a unique occupation, right? This is not the norm leaving the planet. And they understand that. And they, again, use that term, pivoted and got on board, understanding that this is part of what families in these type of businesses do.
(22:35)
And it's not just in human spaceflight. This is military, armed forces, police forces, all across all different types of occupations that are involved in the possibility of extended stays away. And we're not unique in that. And so they understand that. They have friends that have parents in other areas where they've been involved in similar type situations. And all of that came together. And the Lord's help, we persevered and they persevered. And I can tell you I am very proud of them.
Courtney (23:09):
We'll take another question on our phone bridge and then head back into the room. Our next question is from Tom with Sky News London.
Tom (23:18):
Hello. Thanks for taking my question. Congratulations on your extended mission and your safe return. Although the political situation around this did bring a lot of attention to space and to the International Space Station, some of the statements that were made during your stay up there caused embarrassment to NASA, forced them to make corrections to statements. Now that you are back, did the politics around your stay make a difficult situation worse?
Butch Wilmore (23:58):
I'm not sure I understood.
Suni Williams (23:59):
I didn't understand the question exactly.
Nick Hague (24:01):
I missed everything except for that last part.
Courtney (24:01):
Yeah, you came in just, you were broken up just a little bit. Could you please try to repeat your question one more time?
Tom (24:09):
Yeah, I will. Yeah. Can you hear me? I was asking whether, although the political wrangling around your extended stay in space brought a lot of attention to the human space flight, some of the political statements raised caused embarrassment to NASA, forced to make denials about various things that were offered and not offered and sometimes to your astronaut colleagues. Did the politics around your mission make a difficult situation worse?
Nick Hague (24:47):
Thank you for the question. You know, I talked about how the politics kind of, they don't make it up there when we're trying to make operational decisions. So as the commander of Crew Nine responsible for the safety of this crew and getting them back safely, I can tell you that the entire time up there I launched with that singular objective of showing up to the station and having to integrate Butch and Suni into a crew with Aleks and myself. And then we were planning, you know, from day one to return toward the end of February, that all predicated on the fact that we would have a replacement crew show up and we'd have adequate handover with that crew before we left. That's important to maintain the mission of the International Space Station to continue pushing research and exploration. And that was never in question the entire time. There were a lot of options that were discussed and the ground team and the team on the ground, you know, we've alluded to it a couple of times already, is gigantic. And everybody was working with singular focus on how do we end the Crew Nine mission at the right time and maintain the safety and the success of the Space Station mission. And you know, launching in September, given all the unique dynamics surrounding this mission and coming back originally targeting the end of February and hitting the middle of March, that's pretty much on target if you look at the track record of human space flight. It's dynamic. It's challenging. The weather doesn't always cooperate, but we somehow we figure out how to make it work.
Courtney (26:30):
All right, we will take our next question here in the room.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Fox 26 here in Houston. Welcome back to H-Town. Suni and Butch, both of you all have a long history of being active and athletes, but with that being said, obviously you all spent nearly nine months in space. What does that recuperation and recovery process look like, getting acclimated back here to Earth?
Butch Wilmore (26:54):
I'll start. I can tell you we have a group of individuals, astronaut strength conditioning and rehabilitation specialists. And we are directly integrated with them day in and day out. They send us protocols to work out. And I can tell you I'm not as young as I used to be, but I was stronger on Space Station, doing more weight and more reps on exercises than I have in my entire life. Because this group of professionals work to get us stronger and stronger and stronger. We're trying to minimize muscle atrophy, minimize our bone loss. So if we go to other planets, the moon and other planets in the foreseeable future, that we will be able to function when we get there.
(27:37)
It's a whole science built around this team of individuals that are working to help us better understand human physiology and what zero gravity does to it and how we can mitigate the effects of the bone loss and the muscle atrophy. So day in and day out, I worked out every single day. We went into quarantine on the 22nd of April and starting on the 22nd of April, I never missed a single day of workout because your body can recuperate in zero gravity. It doesn't have the normal stresses of gravity on it all the time. So you work out real hard, you're hurt for an hour and it finally fades away and you're ready to go the next day. So I applaud those individuals. They are making huge gains in the preparation to go beyond low earth orbit and it's science that is taking place day in and day out and has for years. And we're still learning and we're still progressing.
Suni Williams (28:24):
Yeah, like day 265 on the [inaudible 00:28:28] because it counts all your days that you go into a workout, I was thinking, I wish the hay was in the barn. But every single day, just like Butch is saying, you got to get on the machine and work out. And it actually is a really great stress relief to be able to have that time up there and run or bike or lift weights. It's really great. And the folks that Butch is talking about along with the nutritionists really are looking out for us and making sure that when we get back here to planet Earth with gravity, we'll be able to function. So yeah, it's an adjustment when we get back and they're here right with us from day one when we landed ready to evaluate us and see how we're doing and then work on a protocol to get us back. And like I said, I sneakily went for a run yesterday, but that's all as a result of their hard work.
Butch Wilmore (29:15):
Yeah, I mean, who would even imagine that you'd come back from 10 months in space, roughly 10 months, and within a week you run two miles at an eight-minute pace. I mean, that's not even conceivable that the body could handle that, but these folks get us ready to where those type of things happen.
Courtney (29:33):
Okay, we'll take our next question here in the room.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Yes. Hello. I'm just wondering you, there are a lot of people that depend on jobs here in the aerospace industry, in the Houston area, 23,000 total. In the past when there have been issues with NASA spacecrafts, there have been delays. And now we have another issue with the Boeing Starliner. Is there any concern that your issues with Boeing may delay future projects, future missions? And what would you say to one of
Speaker 4 (30:00):
One of your fellow astronauts before they go up on another test flight?
Butch Wilmore (30:04):
That's a great question.
Suni Williams (30:05):
Yeah, it's a great question. And I think we all have alluded to it. There's lessons learned. And that's like a piece of hope, right? We're not just sitting here doing the same thing over and over again, and we're learning from every mistake, potentially, or maybe a decision that we've made and how we could make that better and do better the next time. When we go to the moon, we won't have an International Space Station to maybe take a stop at. We really have to get it right. And because of our mission, I think that highlighted some areas where maybe we need to work on and get it right for our fellow astronauts. I think they're encouraged by that. You learn and you move on and you get better, and I think that's part of the learning process. It's part of the exploration process.
Butch Wilmore (30:48):
We are scheduled on Wednesday to meet with Boeing leadership. The program managers, senior chief engineers, to discuss some of these issues. They want to come together with us, Sunny and myself, because we live through this with them and get on board with what the future looks like, and having flight crew with background in tests and acquisition involved in the processes going forward to make sure that we're dotting every I and crossing every T. But still, that doesn't mean that you're guaranteed success in anything, like we've said many times. This is a tough business and we're learning all the time to go further and further and further.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
We'll take another question here in the room.
Ken Chang (31:32):
Hi. Ken Chang from the York Times. This is for all you guys. I was wondering if you could sort of talk about your personal future. Sorry. There's been a lot of talk about there's uncertainty about the future of the human space flight program, suggestions that ISS should be over in a few years, there should be a pivot from the moon to Mars. How do astronauts feel about these potential changes? Three years is a lot longer than eight months.
Nick Hague (32:03):
So we've each been able to do multiple missions to the space station, and I'll let Butch and Sunny add on to this, but one of the things that I noticed was a dramatic increase in the complexity and just the weightiness of the experiments that we were conducting this time around on the station since six years ago when I was last there. And it just gives you this sense that we are in the golden age of the Space Station right now in terms of the return on investment and what we're able to do there. And it's not just focused on return to benefit the Earth. It's also focused on enabling all those things that we're going to need as we go to the moon and onto Mars. And so I am really optimistic when I think about the future of human space flight.
Suni Williams (32:53):
Yeah, I would add on too. It was over a decade since I've been up there last and I was pretty excited about what was going on. There was a lot going on when we first got there. It was an honor to be working with Crew Eight and seeing all that they were doing and just trying to help them with their stuff. And then being moving up to the prime spots for Crew Nine and Expedition 72 as we took on a lot of experiments ourselves, as well as spacewalks. And what the Space Station is doing to help us in exploration is really encouraging and it's exciting. I'm a little envious of the future astronauts, the guys who are coming behind us that are going to have so many wonderful opportunities to do the same as us, add to that exploration, add to trying to find the answers to the next questions. It's going to be an exciting future. So I'm not worried about aerospace industry. I think there's a lot going on and it's a great time to be in it.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
We'll take our next question right here.
Ed Lavendera (33:53):
Hi, Ed Lavandera with CNN. Thanks for taking the time today. When you re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and came back to gravity, can you talk specifically about any kind of weird either sensations or experiences that you've had dealing with that over the last couple of weeks? And more importantly, did you know that you guys had been greeted by dolphins when you splashed down?
Butch Wilmore (34:13):
I can tell you that returning from space to earth, through the atmosphere, inside of a 3000 degree fireball of plasma is weird. Regardless of how you look at it.
Suni Williams (34:24):
It doesn't matter what type.
Butch Wilmore (34:25):
Yeah, it doesn't matter what type. It's thrilling. It's amazing. I remember thinking about the structure of the capsule and the stresses that was ongoing as the droves came out, and the whole capsule starts shaking and twisting and thinking about the stresses taking place and going, "Wow, I hope those cables hold." And then the parachutes open up and then you're like … I've said it many times. There's not a better feeling returning from space that the parachutes open and work. And I didn't have the view in front of me, and thankfully Nick did. He had a view of the camera going out right off the top and he said, "Three parachutes, good. Four good parachutes." And I'll tell you what, it's a great feeling.
Suni Williams (35:03):
It's a great feeling.
Butch Wilmore (35:05):
And it's exhilarating because this, again, I can't help because it's within me. This is our national focus, national goals. We don't do this because NASA decides to do this or this or this, this is congress and everything coming together to affect a human spaceflight program with a purpose. And part of that purpose includes bringing those astronauts back to earth and it's a thrilling ride like no other that you could imagine. And satisfying.
Suni Williams (35:32):
Yeah. Yeah.
Nick Hague (35:33):
And I had requested dolphins as kind of a joke. Somehow they pulled it off.
Suni Williams (35:40):
Yeah, just hats off, like Butch said, to Nick for … He was just commentating the whole way down. So there was obviously … We had trained this and gone over it while we were up on the space station and reviewed, but just to hear everything as it was ticking along, it's just really awesome. You can envision it. You had a display, I think there's a camera that goes up, right, to see it, and Butch and I both had a window on either side where we were, and I was watching through the window as much as I could. But then all of a sudden with the heating, it glazes over and then you can't see outside. A funny thing that happened though after you can't see, you can still sort of see through it. We knew it was daylight and we knew the folks were coming out to rig the spacecraft and I see a little tennis shoe sort of going in front of the window, so I'm like, "Okay, our friends are here getting us ready to get back on the boat," and that was pretty special too. I didn't see a fin though. I wish I had saw a fin.
Speaker 5 (36:32):
Okay, we'll head to our phone bridge. Our next question from Margaret Smith.
Margaret Smith (36:38):
Hi everyone, this is Margaret Smith from Worcester, Massachusetts. The home of Robert Goddard, who started it all. Thanks for taking the time today. My question to both of you is for those who maybe are not especially familiar or who may sort of question the need for the Space Station, can you make the case for why that work is important?
Nick Hague (37:00):
Why the station I work is important.
Suni Williams (37:04):
Why the Space Station is important? Oh, the Space Station is amazing. So just sort of, like we've talked about a little bit earlier in this conversation. So we are doing a bunch of stuff like Butch alluded to, physiology, understanding what happens to humans as they're in space for a longer period of time. That brings in lots of science experiments in chemistry and biology. Some of that stuff all comes back to Earth because we're doing some amazing stuff in the microgravity environment. Some of it is mirrored, for example, in our own human bodies. And so there's a lot of stuff that's happening for us, for exploration, for the humans, as well as for Earth.
(37:43)
And then as Nick alluded to, there's all sorts of systems and other things that we were testing up there to help us take those next steps to go back to the moon and on to Mars, figuring out all these exploration systems, including docking vehicles, different types of spacecraft that we have up there, other types of commercial spacecraft that are coming up for resupply. That's all a huge program to get us to understand how we're going to take the next steps in exploration.
(38:09)
I can't help also, but talk about STEM. All of this is STEM. Science, technology, engineering and math. And I'm hoping the work that we've done up there also encourages the next generation of kids to understand how important that is and how they can become involved. We did lots of experiments up there with kids and universities and companies, trying out new guidance, navigation control algorithms and robots that were flying inside the Space Station, competitions, for example, for them. And that's pretty awesome that you can really touch and talk to kids on the ground as you're doing experiments up there, and they have their finger on the pulse of science experiments, and they can understand that and think to themselves, "I could be part of this one day."
Speaker 5 (38:55):
Our next question on the phone bridge is from Neil with ITV News.
Neil (39:01):
Congratulations on a great job everyone. Sunny, can I ask how your body is recovering to life with gravity after nine months? And Butch, what's your message to others from your experience, the delays that you guys faced, and any lessons in patience for the rest of us down here?
Suni Williams (39:19):
Oh, I think I'm doing okay. I was just joking around and showing off a little bit. But no, seriously, we talked a little bit about our group, the astronauts strength and reconditioning folks that are getting us back in shape, and every day feeling better and better. It's pretty much a miracle to see how your human body can adapt. The first day we got back, when all of us came down the ladder and greeted everybody, we were all a little bit wobbly at that time. And it's amazing within 24 hours how the neuro vestibular system kicks in, your brain understands what's going on, and then the agility and the weightlifting that occurs in the next week that makes you feel good enough to actually, like I mentioned, go out, run, actually lift weights, get in there, do squats and deadlifts and stuff already. That's pretty incredible.
(40:09)
So I knew it was going to happen. We all knew it. We've all flown before. We all knew that there's just a little bit of a hump to get over and then you can get back on it. Hope to do a couple of races in the springtime.
Butch Wilmore (40:19):
Yeah. I think the clear message is that, like I said when I started, it takes a team. It takes a team of motivated and passionate individuals. We don't have a human spaceflight program. You don't have folks sitting up here in a blue suit without the massive team that's making it all happen. We get to ride the pointy end of the rocket. It is wonderful. We get to go to the space station. We're the arms and the eyes for PIs here on earth. They're the ones that are doing the hard work. We're just setting up and doing and switching and changing. So it takes a team, and I would say any part of this team is a great and wonderful place to be because we're proud of all of them, because we don't have it without them.
Speaker 5 (40:58):
Our next question is from Marsha Smith with Space Policy Online.
Marsha Smith (41:04):
Thanks so much for taking my question. Butch, you mentioned that you are going be meeting with the Boeing leadership to talk about Starliner, and I'm wondering, are you surprised that after all these months, it's been almost, what, seven months since Starliner landed that they still haven't resolved all these problems? And will you and Sunny be assigned to work with them over these next many months getting Starliner ready?
Butch Wilmore (41:28):
Okay, so a couple of questions there. Am I surprised? I'm not surprised. Like we've said it several times, again, human spaceflight is hard. It's not that no work has been done to this point. There's a great deal of work being done, but we have insight that not many other people have. We worked this program for six years before we launched. We talked to everyone up and down the chain of command, and we have insight that other people don't have, and we want to share that as much as possible. We tried to share it from orbit, but that's hard. Face to face is how you communicate. It's very difficult to communicate when you can't even see the other person that you're talking to. So we've had some conversations, but now it's time to get serious and get together and talk about some of these issues and some of these things and get us … Not get us. We're already tracking on the right path, but maybe a little tweaking here and there because of some insight that we'll be able to give them. That's the purpose of that meeting. And they're eager to do it, as are we.
Speaker 5 (42:21):
We'll take our next question here in the room.
Jacob Rascone (42:24):
Jacob Rascone, KHOU 11. I wonder what you would say about the life lesson I think we can all relate to. We've all made plans, we've all been excited about those plans, and we've all watched those plans kind of fall apart. What would you say about what allows you to meet the moment with courage, with Serenity? Or maybe you didn't internally, but what would you say about that life lesson I think we can all relate to?
Suni Williams (43:01):
Well, I'll start. I'll start. And I'm sure you want to add, both of you. Because I think every flight is a little bit different than what you go in planning it to be. It doesn't matter if it was this one or many other flights, or many things in life, just like you alluded to. I think the go-to thought there is what is the opportunity in front of me? It's not a missed opportunity. It's actually another opportunity that I didn't really think about. And wow, that opens a lot of, like I mentioned earlier, a lot of doors or a lot of things to learn. So I think it is great. I think that's the point I think of the whole thing is like when something doesn't go your way, you just have to take the blinders off and look around you and see what other really great things are waiting for you, and then just take advantage of that. Learn as much as you can while wherever you are, whatever your situation is, and move on from there and then share that lesson.
Butch Wilmore (44:02):
Well, I sort of had a similar question on orbit, and I think my answer would be similar. Life is a … Our life, all of our lives are bound up in many things. For me, it is faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the end-all, be-all. He forgives us, He teaches us when his word says about being content in all situations because He's working out His plan and His purposes for His glory and our good. And I believe that because the Bible says that, and that's the message that I lived. We lived it. My family lived it. We taught them these things throughout their lives. And that's contentment. It doesn't mean always happy, it doesn't mean there's no pain, but content in knowing that God's in control. Sovereign God's in control, working out His plan and His purpose. And you might say, "Well, goodness, that wasn't a very good thing. God did that?" Well, he's working out His plan and His purpose. Who's lived a life without pain?
Butch Wilmore (45:00):
… I mean no one, that's the nature of existence, who's lived a life without sorrow, who's lived a life without challenges. It grows us, we learn from it, and that's the focus that I try to take from it, is what's the Lord trying to show me, and what's he teaching me? Because there's so much to learn in life and there is so much to learn from this evolution, and I think we're all… I know my daughters are better off for it, and I'm grateful for that, and I think we are as well.
Courtney (45:27):
If there's any additional questions here in the room, please be sure to raise your hand and we'll get a microphone over to you. In the meantime, we'll head over to the phone bridge to Josh with space.com.
Josh (45:42):
Hi [inaudible 00:45:43] and thank you all so much for doing this. This question's for all three of you. What were the most out-of-this-world and your favorite experiments or tech demos you got to be a part of on this mission, and for William, and one more specifically, did the extension of your mission create any new opportunities for experiments or research that was not originally planned for the expedition?
Suni Williams (46:03):
[inaudible 00:46:06] you start.
Butch Wilmore (46:06):
You start.
Nick Hague (46:06):
Sure. So while I was up there, we performed about 150 different experiments. Of those, the ones that you know the most about are the ones where you end up being one of the guinea pigs in the experiment. So there was about a dozen different experiments where we were doing things to me, and seeing how my body adapted, whether that was a vascular aging experiment where we're measuring how stiff my arteries get because life in space tends to manifest itself as accelerated aging, and so we can better understand how the human body responds to that, and hopefully provide some treatments on the ground to help with problems that as you get older you encounter, how our immune system works, did a whole study on the immune system and how my body was responding. Life on orbit tends to suppress the immune system and why does that happen?
(47:01)
We're trying to understand that so that we can help design better treatments on the ground, but also understand how we can support crews that go deeper into space on longer missions.
(47:12)
Probably one of the most shocking experiments, Butch and Suni got to watch me wire myself up to muscle stimulation pads and shock myself, and trying to figure out how do we keep our muscles strong when we don't have access to all the equipment we have on the International Space Station, because as we go to the moon and on to Mars, that's a lot of extra mass, and if we can do it with smaller equipment, maybe that works.
(47:42)
The side benefit of that is anybody that's been bedridden on the ground, that's also a treatment for how you can support somebody that's been kind of tied to a bed for a long period of time, and help keep them healthy so there's a benefit directly to the ground.
(47:54)
That's three of them. They're all interesting, and I'm one of many subjects, and it takes years to get enough subjects to go through the Space Station to be able to generate enough data to draw some conclusions. And so that's why research up there takes a long time, but the value is clear.
Butch Wilmore (48:15):
Just very briefly, there's some medications on Earth that work well with a certain age group, but the same medication doesn't work so well with another. So it's a capillary flow experiment to try to understand how that medication is flowing through our bodies, and maybe there's something we can figure out as to why those things are, and we're trying to figure that out. And that's very beneficial obviously to mankind, and may benefit some of our families one day.
Suni Williams (48:42):
I just want to highlight some other science that's going on up there because we have just an amazing person, Don Pettit, who's up on the Space station getting ready to come home, and every day he's up to something, and just trying to highlight what microgravity does and how it is, as well as amazing photography, which I'm sure a lot of you have probably seen out there.
(49:03)
And the fact that he can take a picture of a red sprite or a blue jet and have a picture from the Space Station looking down on a lightning cloud is just incredible. And it enlightens all of us into what is actually going on in the universe. And that's just simply because he's curious, and that is something that's actually, like I said, we're sharing, and we're showing off to everybody like, "Wow, we think we know what's going on, but we really don't." And if you just open your eyes and make some observations like Don does every morning at four a.m., we learn a whole lot. It's a great place.
Butch Wilmore (49:40):
Don's taking potatoes he's growing, and the nitrogen produced in the roots of the potatoes to nourish the peanuts that he's growing. I mean, he's pretty special. He's a special guy.
Suni Williams (49:51):
He's awesome.
Courtney (49:53):
Our next question on our phone bridge is from Robert Perlman.
Robert Perlman (49:59):
Hi for Butch and Suni, you're now the first astronauts to fly on both Starliner and Dragon, admittedly one on the way up and one on the way down. Was there anything about either spacecraft that you found you liked more about the other that stood out as a feature, especially in terms of crew amenities?
Butch Wilmore (50:20):
More Velcro on SpaceX than on Dragon? That's a crew amenity.
Suni Williams (50:26):
That's a crew amenity, which would be nice, yeah.
Butch Wilmore (50:27):
We've talked about that, that's why I said it.
Suni Williams (50:30):
They're both unique and they both have their purpose, and made to do the same thing but I think what's really cool is give a problem to do for two different people and see how they solve it. Starliner is a really awesome spacecraft, like Butch had mentioned, with the integration of manual control, as well as automation, as well as its vision systems. Dragon is a very comfortable spacecraft that tells you what it's doing, which is very nice, versus having to interpret displays as we have done throughout the space programs with former programs, including Shuttle.
(51:07)
So they're both different, they're both unique, they both have their place in history. Very honored to have had that opportunity to see both of them up close and personal and ride them both. I don't know if I have a preference, honestly. They're both great for different reasons.
Courtney (51:29):
Our next question on the phone bridge is from David Curley.
David Curley (51:34):
Thank you very much. Butch, you mentioned lessons learned, Suni, you mentioned earlier about the ability of the Starliner. When you meet with Boeing, what is the overarching message you'll deliver to the company?
Butch Wilmore (51:48):
We don't have enough time to go into all that. If you understand the spacecraft that we have now, we got Dragon, we have Orion, and we have Starliner. In my opinion, Starliner has the most capability when you think about its ability to maneuver automatically, you think about its ability to maneuver manually in all phases of flight, and then we have a mode, if those modes have failure modes, we have a backup mode where we can go directly from controllers to the reaction control system jets and maneuver the spacecraft. There's no spacecraft that has all of this capability.
(52:27)
I mean, I jokingly said a couple of times before we launched that I could literally do a barrel row over the top of the space station. I would never do that, but you can in this spacecraft, it is very, very capable. If we can figure out a couple of very important primary issues with the thrusters and the helium system, Starliner is ready to go.
(52:47)
We have to do some tests, we have to do some integrated tests, we have to bring it all together in a process of qualification that is not going to happen overnight, but it has to take place, and Starliner will be right in line with the number of missions that Dragon, and effect what it is designed to do, and that's ferry crews to and from the International Space Station and cargo, and I think that very quickly we can get on that track, and that's part of the discussions that we'll have.
Courtney (53:18):
Our next question is from Carolyn with Fortune Magazine.
Carolyn (53:24):
Hello. Thank you, and welcome home. Can you share maybe any special times or conversations you've had just with family or friends since you've been home.
Courtney (53:40):
Conversations you've had with family and friends since you've been home?
Suni Williams (53:42):
Since we've been home? Well, for me it's making plans. My family had been making plans while I was gone because we thought we were only going to be gone for about a week-and-a-half, two weeks, or something. And so there was definitely plants throughout the summer, there was plans throughout the fall. Personally, we have a house up in New England and my husband's been talking about when we're going to get up there and do a lot of fun stuff up there, and I think that's probably appropriate when it gets hot and humid here in the summer. I'm ready to take a little reprieve up there. So those are mostly the conversations about just like what's next? What's next on the list? What else do you want to do? Where else in the world would you like to go see?
(54:23)
Because when you come back from space, it's really hard to sit where you just are because there were so many amazing places that you saw, like Patagonia, for example, for me. It's like there's a bigger bucket list that I had when I left, which is unfortunate for my family, or fortunate for my family, we're all going to be taking some trips. So I think that's mostly the conversations about just being home and enjoying each other's company, and going seeing new things.
Butch Wilmore (54:49):
Yeah, I think when you've had this period of recuperation and getting back in the swing of life on Earth, it's pretty close as far as the people that you interact with, your family, folks at church. So I think my message, at least in the short term here, has been, thank you for the support of us. Thank you for the support of my family. But then it goes beyond that to my home state of Tennessee. There's an immense amount of support by my family there, and friends there, and the whole state is a matter of fact. Tennessee's a wonderful state, I'm putting in my pitch for Tennessee. But getting up there eventually and relaying the same thank you to them and to, like I said, to a nation that cares, and a nation that prayed, and this opportunity right now to say thank you to our nation, our wonderful nation.
Courtney (55:31):
Our next question on the phone bridge comes from Uttarish, go ahead.
Uttarish (55:40):
Welcome everyone. My question to Suni is that Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, chief has said that India wishes to utilize your expertise in space exploration. So is there any scope of hope that we can see you working or collaborating with ISRO, that is Indian Space Research Organization in future? And second part of this question is, while being in ISS and seeing India from a space, is there any moment you would like to share? How does India look from a space Suni?
Nick Hague (56:10):
Opportunity, the second one [inaudible 00:56:18]-
Suni Williams (56:21):
Yeah, let me address the second question real quickly. India's amazing, every time we went over the Himalayas, and I'll tell you, Butch got some incredible pictures of the Himalayas, just amazing. And you can see I've described it before, just like this ripple that happened, obviously when the plates collided, and then as it flows down into India, it's many, many colors. I think when you come from the east going into Gujarat and Mumbai, the fishing fleet that's off the coast there gives you a little bit of a beacon that, here we come. And then all throughout India, I think the impression I had was it was just like this network of lights from the bigger cities going down through the smaller cities, just incredible to look at night as well as during the day, highlighted of course by the Himalayas, which was just incredible as a forefront going down into India.
(57:13)
I hope, and I think for sure, I'm going to be going back to my father's home country and visiting with people and getting excited about the first… or not the first, but the Indian astronauts who's going up on the Axiom mission coming up, pretty awesome.
(57:29)
They'll have a hometown hero there of their own that will be able to talk about how wonderful the International Space Station is from his perspective. But I hope I can meet up at some point in time and we can share our experiences with as many people in India as possible, because it's a great country, another wonderful democracy that's trying to put its foot in the space countries, and I would love to be part of that, and help them along.
Butch Wilmore (57:55):
Do you plan to take your crew members on that trip with you?
Suni Williams (57:58):
Absolutely. You might stick out a little bit, but that's okay. We'll get you all primed with some spicy food, and we'll be good.
Courtney (58:08):
Okay. We have time for one final question on the phone bridge from Jim Siegel.
Jim Siegel (58:16):
[inaudible 00:58:16] everybody, Jim Siegel here from Florida Media Now, thank you for taking my question. Butch and Suni, you missed a couple of holidays while you were back up at the International Space Station at Christmas and Thanksgiving, I wondered whether you have done or planning to do anything special with your family and friends for those holidays? Thank you.
Butch Wilmore (58:41):
I don't think we missed them.
Suni Williams (58:42):
Right.
Butch Wilmore (58:42):
I think we celebrated every single one. We actually had a reindeer that we built and rode like a bull, I don't know if you saw those pictures, but we celebrated in style, trust me.
Suni Williams (58:53):
Oh yeah. And Nick was great, because he came up anticipating that we were all going to obviously be there for those holidays. So he was like Santa Claus, had his little bag of goodies for all of us and it was pretty awesome to have the holidays up there. It's pretty unique, and not many of us get to do that. So it was a lot of fun.
Butch Wilmore (59:11):
But this holiday season will be special for sure.
Suni Williams (59:14):
Absolutely, yeah.
Courtney (59:16):
All right, that's all the time we have for today. Thank you for joining in on our news conference today. And thank you for your continued interest in NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Mission. We'll see you next time.
