JOHNSON SPACE CENTER — Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams would both go back on Starliner again once the issues — like helium leaks — have been resolved, they told Spectrum News during a press conference on Monday afternoon.

The duo took to the stage along with fellow Crew-9 member Nick Hague to give a post-flight news conference about the Crew-9 mission.

Wilmore and Williams were originally Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts as they tested out Boeing’s experimental Starliner capsule last year.

The NASA astronauts took off from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in June 2024 for what was supposed to be an eightish-day mission to the International Space Station, but a combination of helium leaks and thruster issues prolonged their stay from days to months.

During their nine-month stay, their Starliner ride called Calypso was deemed unsafe by NASA and returned to Earth without Williams and Wilmore.

In January, Trump posted on social media that he asked Musk to “go get” Wilmore and Williams, who many considered “stranded” on the International Space Station, even though there were other astronauts, food and supplies on the station.

NASA already had a plan to bring them home, as Spectrum News was the first to confirm that the U.S. space agency was considering the use of a SpaceX Dragon capsule for their ride home.

The pair became members of the Crew-9 and came back home on Tuesday, March 18, with Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Scroll down to see the timeline of the Starliner saga.

They would go back on Starliner again

During a question-and-answer session, both Williams and Wilmore answered that they would go up on Starliner again when they were asked by Spectrum News.

“Yes, because we are going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We are going to fix it. We are going to make it work. Boeing is completely committed. NASA is completely committed. With that, I would get on it in a heartbeat,” Wilmore said.

Williams added.

“I would agree. The spacecraft is completely capable. There were a couple of things that need to be fixed, like Butch mentioned, and folks are actively working on that. It is a great spacecraft, and it has a lot of capability that other spacecraft that don’t have. To see that thing successful and to be a part of that program is an honor,” Williams said, who was the space station’s commander.

With all the issues that Starliner experienced, Wilmore said that if there is blame to go around — either NASA or Boeing — he said he should share in some of that.

“But I will start and point the finger and blame me. I could have asked questions. The answers to those questions could have turned the tide,” he said.

And while he says that both Boeing and NASA should accept responsibility for the troubles Starliner experience, Wilmore still trusts those institutions.  

Later, Wilmore said that he believes that God had a reason for Starliner not being a successful mission, but it is part of a plan.

Throughout the conference, Wilmore cited his faith in God.

The trio were asked about their thoughts on how political the Starliner mission became, like when Trump stated in February that the “the Biden administration left them (Williams and Wilmore) there so long”.

Wilmore said that Hague had an interesting insight on the matter, which generated some laughter.

“When we are up there, operating in space, you don’t feel the politics. You don’t feel any of that. Your focus is strictly on the mission,” explained Hague. “The politics don’t make it up there.”

Among the topics the three spoke about, such as missing out on family gatherings and what foods they enjoyed eating once they returned, they also talked about some of their work on the International Space Station.

Hague said that the Crew-9 mission conducted 150 experiments, with some of them looking at how the human body handles life in space, such as measuring the stiffness of the arteries.  

Starliner Interactive Timeline