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Sunita Williams rejects Elon Musk's recent suggestion as she reveals 'hardest part' about extended ISS stay
Sunita Williams rejected SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's recent suggestion that the International Space Station (ISS) should be retired early.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, NASA's two stranded astronauts, will soon return to Earth after spending nine months in space. However, they will not be able to check out until their successors arrive at the ISS next week.
Ahead of their expected return to Earth, the duo addressed a press conference, where Williams rejected SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's recent suggestion that the International Space Station (ISS) should be retired early, rather than at the end of 2030, as currently planned.
She pointed out that the orbiting lab was conducting a lot of scientific research.
“This place is ticking. It's just really amazing, so I would say we're actually in our prime right now,” she asserted. “I would think that right now is probably not the right time to say quit, call it quits.”
Williams expresses eagerness to meet her Labrador retrievers
Williams stated that she is eager to see her Labrador retrievers again. She revealed that the most difficult aspect of the unplanned extended stay was the wait to go back home and see their family.
“It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” she continued. Emphasizing on the importance of their mission, Williams said, “We're just just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun.”
What to know about Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's return
When Wilmore and Williams departed last June aboard Boeing's new Starliner capsule, which made its crew debut after years of delay, they were only supposed to stay in space for approximately a week. Later, NASA determined that the Starliner was too unsafe to transport anyone due to its numerous issues en route to the space station, and it returned empty.
It postponed their homecoming as additional time was required to complete the brand-new SpaceX capsule that was meant to deliver their replacements.
NASA declared last month that liftoff would now take place on March 12 and that the next crew will be launched in a used spacecraft. Before Wilmore and Williams leave with NASA's Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency's Alexander Gorbunov, the two crews will stay together on the space station for almost a week.
