Sunita Williams reveals why she'll never return to space after 286 days 'trapped' above Earth
An astronaut who was previously trapped in space for a whopping 286 days has revealed why she will never leave Earth again.
Sunita Williams recently announced she was retiring from her career at NASA, having spent much longer in space than anticipated.
Williams embarked on what was meant to be an eight-day mission alongside Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore that turned into a months-long space saga.
The pair ran into some serious issues with their spacecraft Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion system, with five of the spacecraft’s maneuvering thrusters having reportedly stalled, with five helium leaks and a faulty propellant valve.
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NASA deemed it too unsafe for the astronauts to return to Earth and instead, the spacecraft returned empty.
Williams and Wilmore were left patiently waiting in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS) before they were eventually picked up by a SpaceX spacecraft carrying Crew-9.
Finally returning to Earth on March 19, 2025, a whopping 286 days after lift off, Williams has shared why she will never go back to space.
Last week, Williams appeared at the Kerala Literature Festival in Kozhikode, India, where she shared her thoughts after announcing her retirement.
She said: “I would love to go to space again, but my husband would kill me. I have some things to do at home.”
Detailing how she spent her time in space, Williams continued: “We were trying to participate in as much as we could, as well as being productive members on the space station.
“We were extra crewmates up there. We were eating a lot of food, and we were using the bathroom quite a bit… So, obviously, food needs to be stocked, and the bathroom needs to be cleaned when all other experiments and other things are going on. These may not be the most glorious jobs up in space, but you need to pitch in and be part of the team.
“As the summer rolled in, it was becoming more clear that we probably were not going home. Then it’s time to focus on being crew members up there. And it is a team sport. I had to always remember that and remind people that two people were supposed to be on that spacecraft that came and brought us home. They graciously stepped aside and only two seats went up, so there were two empty seats for me and Butch Wilmore to come back. That was a huge event for someone who was training for a number of years to say that I am not going to fly.”