NASA astronauts: Finger of blame pointed after stranded SpaceX explorers debacle
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams spoke to reporters for the first time since they were ferried home from the International Space Station - following their nine-month saga
Stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blame themselves for the SpaceX debacle.
In their first news conference since coming home from the International Space Station, the explorers insisted they were partly responsible for the bungled operation. That is despite repeated issues with SpaceX technology, each time leading to attempts to return the friends being axed.
Yet, incredibly, Mr Wilmore told the press yesterday: "I’ll start and point the finger and I’ll blame me. I could have asked some questions and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide. All the way up and down the chain. We all are responsible. We all own this."
Mr Wilmore, 62, was away from his wife Deanna and their two daughters for months due to repeated delays in the operation. He and Ms Williams, 59, were only supposed to be away from home for eight days last summer. Despite being cut off from their friends and families for more than nine months, the NASA astronauts only received the same £3.90 daily stipend.
READ MORE: NASA astronauts stranded in space were paid less than £4 per day in overtimeBut the pair, both retired Navy captains, were quick to insist they were, in part, to blame for the saga. They also said they would strap into the Boeing Starliner again - even though it encountered so many issues.
Ms Williams, originally from Euclid, Ohio, continued: "We're all in." Dad-of-two Mr Wilmore added: "Because we're going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to fix them. We're going to make it work."
NASA had the gall to praise US President Donald Trump in an astonishing statement last month. The agency suggested the mission to return the astronauts was only possible with Mr Trump's "direction". NASA still doesn't know why so many challenges were encountered, but more tests are planned throughout the summer.
Despite Starliner’s rocky road, NASA officials said they stand behind the decision made years ago to have two competing US companies providing taxi service to and from the space station. But time is running out - the space station is set to be abandoned in five years and replaced in orbit by privately operated labs.
In the original message crowing to Mr Trump's ego, NASA said: "Per President Trump's direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration's challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home.
"Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars."