Williams also took on leadership responsibilities, becoming the ISS commander three months into their stay—a role she held until earlier this month.
NASA Astronauts Return
Their return mission took a political turn in January when former President Donald Trump urged SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate their return, blaming the delay on the Biden administration.
However, NASA’s replacement crew capsule was not yet ready, prompting SpaceX to substitute it with a used one, expediting the astronauts’ return by a few weeks.
Despite the somewhat political controversy, Wilmore and Williams remained professional and diplomatic in their public communications from orbit. They refrained from casting blame and reiterated their trust in NASA’s decision-making.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
NASA contracted both SpaceX and Boeing to transport astronauts to and from the ISS following the retirement of the space shuttle program.
While SpaceX has successfully launched 20 crewed missions—both public and private—since 2020, Boeing’s Starliner program has struggled, with this being its first and only attempt at a crewed mission to the ISS.
