WASHINGTON (Michigan News Source) – When NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 59, blasted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024, they probably didn’t expect their eight-day mission to turn into an intergalactic long-term layover. Yet, here they are, still floating in space.

Starliner, which should have returned them safely last summer, instead developed technical issues including helium leaks and thruster failures which rendered it unsafe for the crewå’s return to Earth. Instead, NASA brought the Starliner back to earth sans-crew in September of last year, leaving Wilmore and Williams on the ISS (International Space Station) waiting for a safe ride home.

Elon Musk to the rescue.

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With Boeing’s Starliner proving about as reliable as Michigan roads in spring, NASA turned to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for a SpaceX Dragon rescue mission. The plan involved launching the mission with two astronauts instead of the usual four, leaving two seats available for Wilmore and Williams.

Trump, meanwhile, after coming back to the White House, had asked Musk to bring the astronauts home as soon as possible and they are now reportedly coming home a few weeks earlier than previously scheduled.

The mission to bring the astronauts home is scheduled to launch in March 2025. In September, SpaceX launched their mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carting NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov into space. These new astronauts docked with the ISS, bringing fresh supplies.

What have the astronauts been doing?

While they wait, the astronauts are keeping busy – conducting experiments, doing educational outreach, maintaining the ISS, and they did their first spacewalk recently. They’ve also celebrated Christmas in space and feasted on dehydrated pouches of smoked turkey, cranberry, apple cobbler, green beans, mushrooms and mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. While they’ve been in space, the United States has also voted on – and installed – a new president.

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According to NBC, the astronauts were able to vote from space after election officials sent them an encrypted PDF with “clickable boxes” to make their choice.

Speaking with students at Needham High School recently, Williams opened up about her life in the space station, according to a report from CBS affiliate WBZ-TV. She said, ”I’ve been up here long enough right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk…I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid down. You don’t have to. You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here.”

The Michigan connection.

In September 2024, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore reported an unusual “strange noise” coming from Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft while it was docked. He described the sound as a rhythmic, sonar-like ping transmitted through the Starliner’s speaker. Michigan meteorologist Rob Dale later shared the observation on a NASA spaceflight forum which was reported online by Ars Technica. In a statement, NASA said “The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback.” They concluded that the noise had no technical impact on the crew, spacecraft or station operations. The Starliner returned to earth soon after without the crew.

NASA TV channel gone.

If the NASA TV channel was still around, many more people would know the status of the astronauts and what they are up to. However, in August of last year, NASA shutdown NASA TV and shifted everything over to NASA+, their streaming service. While the transition reflects the modern era of streaming, it also means fewer casual viewers are keeping up with the latest space missions.

Ground control to Wilmore and Williams: just a few more months.

For now, NASA reports that the astronauts are in good health and maintaining high spirits. However, by the time they finally return, Wilmore and Williams might set the record for the longest unplanned stay in space – likely with enough material for a book or two.