When Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore left for the International Space Station (ISS) in the Boeing Starliner capsule in early June, they thought they would be gone for a week. But two months later, after problems with faulty thrusters, it is still not clear when they will be able to return.
There are few people on earth who can say that their space mission has ever been delayed, but former astronaut Mike Massimino is one of them.
“Those were glorious days for me,” Mike tells Helen Pidd. “There’s nothing on the checklist for us to really do, so we just looked out the window and relaxed.”
“It was one of the best days on the mission for me, one of the best days of my life.”
Guardian reporter Richard Luscombe also tells Helen what the delay means for Boeing, and what options the astronauts have for their return.
Photo: Chris O’Meara/AP
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