'Part of life as an astronaut'- Ex NASA astronaut reflects on return after space station delay

Record ID: 1891524

  • Title: 'Part of life as an astronaut'- Ex NASA astronaut reflects on return after space station delay
  • Date: 19th December 2024
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 19, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT AND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING PROFESSOR, MIKE MASSIMINO, SAYING: "On my second mission, our plan was to land in at the Kennedy Space Center, that's where you typically land the space shuttle, but you do have other places if you can't land at the Kennedy Space C
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2025 23:08
  • Keywords: Butch Wilmore Earth ISS International Space Station NASA Space Space exploration SpaceX Suni Williams delay return
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: North America,Science,Space Exploration
  • Reuters ID: LVA00K843019122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore face a 9 month delay for their return to Earth, former astronaut Mike Massimino says delays such as this one are part of the sacrifices made by those who venture into space.
    Massimino, who is also an author and engineering professor at Columbia University, knows both Williams and Wilmore and referred to them as his "heroes" in an interview with Reuters.
    No stranger to unexpected delays, Massimino extra days in orbit when his second mission could not land at Kennedy Space Center back in 2009. He calls those "some of best days of my life."
    Massimino says both Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore agree with the decision to delay their return for safety reasons and that they might be feeling "just a little bit of disappointment" for leaving their plans and families back on Earth on hold for longer than anticipated.
    The former astronaut, who was also the first person to tweet from space, explains there are astronauts designated as the point of contact for the families of those still in orbit, making sure they stay connected through the mission and unexpected delays.
    NASA said Williams and Wilmore, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, would return to Earth after the four-member Crew-10 mission, now expected to take off in late March, reaches the space station.
    (Production: Gerardo Gomez)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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