0:04 Station, can you hear me? Station, this
0:07 is Michael Barbaro, host of the Daily.
0:09 How do you hear me? Do you hear me? Hey,
0:10 Michael, we've got you loud and clear.
0:11 Welcome to the International Space Station.
0:17 For the past few months, a highly
0:19 unusual situation has been playing out
0:21 in outer space. Crew transport vehicles
0:23 into the pad. Two American astronauts,
0:26 Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore. Butch
0:28 and Sunny arriving on level 12. Last
0:31 look at planet Earth for a while, saying
0:33 hi to us. Hi, Sunny. Left Earth on a
0:35 test flight of a new Boeing spacecraft
0:37 that was supposed to bring them to the
0:39 International Space Station for just a
0:44 few days. 3 2 1
0:46 ignition and liftoff of Starlininer and
0:49 Atlas 5. They got there on June 6th of
0:51 2024, but their spacecraft
0:53 malfunctioned. NASA and Boeing
0:55 identified helium leaks and experienced
0:57 issues with the spacecraft reaction
0:59 control system or RCS thrusters as
1:01 Starlininer approached the station. And
1:03 NASA determined that it was not safe
1:06 enough for a return flight. And so what
1:08 was supposed to be a roughly 8day stay
1:12 in space has now turned into more than 9
1:14 months. There's Butch coming in through
1:16 the hatch. Sunny and Butch are now
1:19 scheduled to return, we think, in the
1:22 next few days. And so a few days ago,
1:25 with the help of NASA, I was able to ask
1:27 both of the astronauts about this very
1:34 events. Is that Sunny? It's either Sunny
1:38 or Butch. So, yes, it's Sunny. Uh, Sunny
1:40 and Butch, welcome to the Daily. Uh,
1:42 Sunny, this is definitely the first time
1:43 I have conducted an interview with
1:45 somebody who is upside down.
1:47 Congratulations to you for that
1:49 milestone among the many in your career.
1:51 Oh, now you're right. I just wanted to
1:53 demonstrate that my hair stands up even
1:55 if I'm upside down or upside right. You
1:58 have epic hair and I really just want to
2:00 thank you for making time for us. I I
2:04 wanted to start by asking you both how
2:07 you think about the situation that
2:10 you're in right now. Some people call
2:12 you stranded. Others, and I believe your
2:14 bosses among them, deeply resist that
2:17 phrase. Maybe you think of it as a work
2:19 trip that got really extended by months
2:22 and months and months. So if not stuck
2:25 exactly, how do you describe this
2:27 scenario you find yourselves in? I would
2:31 say it's work, it's fun, it's been
2:36 trying at times, no doubt. Um, but
2:40 stranded, no. Stuck? No. Abandoned? No.
2:42 There are no guarantees. You never know
2:45 what might happen because uh the plan
2:47 it's rarely actually do we ever go by
2:49 the plan because this is not an easy
2:51 business that we take part in. It is
2:53 very difficult. Human space flight is
2:55 tough and uh sometimes you run into
2:58 situations that are unexpected and we
3:00 found oursel in one and that's why we
3:03 continue to stay here and work and uh
3:05 actually just do what we are called on
3:07 to do and to support our nation's goals
3:09 in space and exploration.
3:12 Sunny, what has this bonus time, let's
3:16 call it that, allowed you to do both as
3:19 an astronaut and perhaps just as a human
3:21 that you could never have done if this
3:24 had all gone very smoothly with this
3:27 docking? You know, honestly, my previous
3:29 two flights were long duration. And what
3:31 I really liked about that is you could
3:33 uh bring a lot of people along with you
3:35 because it's a longer journey on a short
3:38 flight, a shuttle flight, or this test
3:39 flight. you you just don't have that
3:40 opportunity because you're super super
3:43 busy. And not saying that we're not busy
3:45 up here. We're always doing experiments
3:48 or maintenance or whatever. But having
3:50 been up here for a while, you get a
3:51 little bit of more time to enjoy the
3:53 view out the window. You get a little
3:55 more time to adapt to space. You get a
3:57 little more time to actually talk to
3:59 people on the ground and bring them
4:00 along and have them understand exactly
4:02 what we're doing. So, I think that's one
4:04 of the biggest benefits um from being
4:06 here for a long duration and really
4:08 being able to explain all that the
4:10 International Space Station has to offer
4:12 and what our goals are as we go further
4:15 than low Earth orbit. While you've been
4:17 up there, I don't need to tell you this.
4:19 A lot has happened down here, including natural
4:20 natural
4:23 disasters. And some of them, I imagine,
4:26 have been visible to you given your
4:28 vantage point. And I'm thinking of the
4:30 California wildfires or the hurricane
4:33 that struck your hometown in both your
4:36 cases, right, of of Houston. Can you
4:38 describe in some detail, because I think
4:41 your perspective on this visually is so
4:43 unique, what those looked like from the
4:44 space station? I have this sense that
4:46 they must have been slow motion
4:50 disasters that you could see from space.
4:52 Yes, we can. I I can tell you uh our
4:54 first thought, of course, is is not the
4:56 view that we see. It's what's taking
4:59 place real time on the ground below us
5:01 as people are going through some very
5:02 difficult and trying times, some life
5:04 and death situations, and we know that.
5:06 But yeah, to see a hurricane from space
5:09 is truly amazing because you can see the
5:12 power in the clouds. You truly can. Um
5:14 to see the smoke rise from the west
5:16 coast of our United States when and
5:18 realizing all that was taking place
5:20 there. It's we're heartbroken for all
5:21 that was going on, what they're dealing
5:23 with compared to what we're dealing
5:25 with. I mean, we're dealing with nothing
5:26 compared to those type of things that
5:28 are life-changing. This is this is
5:30 life-changing in certain respects for
5:32 us, but it's nothing compared to what uh
5:34 the the devastation that we have seen
5:36 take place below us. And so, you know,
5:38 our prayers go out to them as people
5:41 rebuild and change uh and and go forward
5:43 with their lives. Right. Were either of
5:45 your homes damaged in that in that
5:46 hurricane? I I think I believe I read
5:49 that perhaps one of them was. We had a
5:50 little bit of damage, a little roof
5:53 damage, and so we we got a new roof out
5:55 of the deal. So that that that was
5:56 probably needed anyway. So it worked out
5:58 in our in our in our favor. Okay. But I
6:00 do have to ask, how do you arrange for a
6:02 new roof from outer space or do you just
6:03 have to seed that kind of ground to
6:06 somebody else in your family?
6:09 I had some interaction with it, but
6:10 yeah, a lot of folks on the ground,
6:12 friends, people from church coming in
6:14 and helping out. And then of course, uh
6:16 I can't do much from here. So, my wife
6:17 Deanna taking charge there, making it
6:20 happen. I'm I'm curious
6:24 about the psychology of of being in this
6:26 place for a lot longer than than you
6:29 expected and and forgive me for asking
6:30 this because it's such a unique
6:33 situation. Is there anything
6:36 approaching space therapy? I mean, who
6:37 do you talk to about the fundamental
6:42 weirdness of this unexpected situation?
6:44 This is something this situation that we
6:48 wound up in is something that our paths
6:51 have prepared us for from day one. I
6:53 mean, we came into the military, both of
6:55 us, as uh young fledglings, and we
6:58 started uh in in some very challenging
7:01 scenarios. And those things truly
7:04 prepared us to compartmentalize, to set
7:07 things aside uh that that that really if
7:09 I can't affect something, why would I
7:12 fret over it or or or or worry about it
7:15 or something or along those lines? We go
7:16 forward, we compartmentalize, and we see
7:19 what our tasks are. And that's what
7:21 we've been trained to do over the course
7:24 of a lifetime. Um, and and that is
7:27 actually easy. It's not easy, but it's
7:29 something that we've been accustomed to
7:31 and we kind of just fall into. Anything
7:33 to add? Yeah, there's a huge support
7:36 team for us uh on the ground, including
7:38 our families, of course, that, you know,
7:39 they were expecting us to just be gone
7:41 for a little while and then gone for a
7:43 little longer time than that. you know,
7:45 making sure the grass is cut, you know,
7:46 just the simple things, but also the the
7:48 really important things like when
7:51 natural disasters hit our hometown. So,
7:53 I think it's been a little bit more
7:55 difficult for them. I hats off to my
7:57 family, Butch's family, for you know,
7:59 just marching through it. this is not
8:02 necessarily their job. And uh you know,
8:03 just having those conversations with
8:05 people on the ground actually to me was
8:07 really nice because I know folks were
8:09 really ready to just support us up here
8:12 and and change their plans for when we
8:13 do come home, which will be a big party,
8:16 I promise. Your your spirits are both
8:18 exceptionally high. I think anyone
8:21 watching this can just feel that. I
8:25 wonder what rituals you have established
8:28 either yourselves or together to keep
8:30 your spirits as high as they clearly
8:32 are. You know, we have a pretty good gym
8:35 up here. Uh so both Butch and I are big
8:38 fans of working out and so that is uh
8:40 that's been I think one of those things
8:42 that you know, just even on the ground,
8:44 you know, going for a run or going to
8:45 the gym and lifting weights always makes
8:47 you feel better. And that's a a thing
8:49 that we have to do here on a daily basis
8:52 anyway. um you know and of course we've
8:53 have conversations around the dinner
8:56 table um about you know Starlininer
8:59 about ISS about spacew walks and all
9:01 that kind of stuff as well as family and
9:03 what's going down what's going on down
9:05 on the ground so yeah I think just
9:07 having conversations with each other as
9:08 well as our our colleagues on the other
9:11 end of the space station um you know we
9:12 try to get together at least once a week
9:15 and we've had a lot of holidays up here
9:17 together as well and uh it's like a
9:18 little family I've got a lot of brothers
9:25 I'd also say that uh NASA does a
9:28 fantastic job of keeping us connected
9:30 with our families and those that we care
9:33 about and care about us uh that are on
9:34 the planet while we're off the planet.
9:37 They they give us the means to call, do
9:39 video calls, those type of things. And
9:42 that really really goes a long way to to
9:44 continue and help us uh deal with all
9:46 types of situations uh that takes place
9:48 in anyone's life, theirs included. But I
9:51 know you have a a child in their last
9:54 year of high school, which is I imagine
9:57 a a tough year to miss. Oh, it is indeed
10:00 tough. Um I tell you what, my daughter
10:03 is really learned a lot and she is
10:05 tough. And it does make your your heart
10:07 feel kind of good when your daughter
10:10 says, you know, dad, I I didn't know how
10:12 much I needed you until you were gone.
10:13 So that's that's something that, you
10:15 know, that that makes you feel good as a
10:17 dad. my daughter Logan as well as my
10:18 oldest daughter Darren who's in her
10:20 second year of college. I'm so proud of
10:22 them and for their strength and their
10:23 resilience through all of this because
10:25 it has been trying for them as well. I
10:26 understand that this is probably going
10:27 to be your last trip to the
10:30 International Space Station and that the
10:32 space station's overall days are
10:34 numbered. There's a plan to decommission
10:39 it fairly soon. So that makes me wonder
10:42 what that's like for you, but also if
10:44 you're tempted to, you know, slip a
10:46 piece of paper or scratch somewhere on
10:48 the walls of the station, Butch and
10:51 Sunny were here 2024 to 2025. I mean,
10:53 are there any tokens that you're going
10:56 to leave behind?
10:59 Hey, that's a good idea. I didn't think
10:59 about that
11:04 before. No. Um, seriously, uh, you know,
11:06 this is just a a magical place. It's a
11:09 wonderful place and it we have our like
11:11 I think our mindset has changed, you
11:12 know, as as things are getting closer
11:14 and I was like, okay, we're heading
11:16 home. Um, and it makes you really want
11:19 to enjoy every bit of your time that you
11:20 have up here. You know, just, you know,
11:23 joking around by floating upside down or
11:25 this module is spectacular. It's
11:28 beautiful, clean uh, the gem, the
11:30 Japanese module. Uh you can do flips and
11:32 turns in here and you sort of feel like
11:34 yes, your days are numbered up here and
11:36 you want to take advantage of everything
11:38 that's microgravity while you can.
11:41 Butch, that was a fantastic somersault.
11:43 Still got
11:48 it. Um I really just want to thank you
11:51 both for for your time and I want to
11:54 wish you a very safe return after what
11:57 you went through on the way up which was
11:59 really perilous. I mean, the
12:01 thrusters went through real problems. I
12:05 I I I know your faith in NASA and all
12:07 your colleagues is extremely high,
12:10 but you know, between you, me, and
12:11 everybody listening in in Houston, are
12:15 you nervous about the return trip? I
12:17 don't think nervous is the is the term
12:18 that I would use. I mean, you're
12:20 cautious about anything. I mean, this is
12:21 this is human space flight, and we're
12:24 going to be inside of a plasma ball at
12:26 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit as we reenter
12:27 the atmosphere. That's not something
12:29 that you do often or do every day. And
12:32 it's not something that uh that uh is is
12:34 easily accomplished either. That's why
12:35 there's only three space fairing nations
12:38 on the globe that do this human space
12:40 flight. Uh it's not an easy business. So
12:41 yeah, I mean you're you're you're
12:44 nervous, no cautious uh in certain
12:47 respects, but eventually you get to the
12:48 point where there's again there's
12:50 there's nothing we can do about it. So
12:52 no going to fret over that and uh just
12:53 trust that the systems work as the
12:56 systems are are designed to work. Um,
12:58 fortunately for us, we have a fantastic
13:00 ops team in mission control down in
13:02 Houston. That's why we're here. So,
13:04 yeah, it was fairly perilous out there
13:06 on the on the we call it the V-bar out
13:07 in front of the space station as we were
13:09 rendevous rendevousing. But our ops team
13:11 came together and they got us docked,
13:13 which made the all the difference of
13:15 course uh and us being here right now.
13:16 So, to them, we're grateful. They're a
13:18 bunch of heroes down there. I've said it
13:19 many times. I've said it to them and
13:21 I'll say it to you as well. We're
13:23 grateful for them. And uh but going
13:25 back, yeah, going back is just it's it's
13:27 just as a perilous a situation, but uh
13:28 certainly something we're prepared for,
13:31 the ground teams are prepared for, and
13:34 uh and it's quite a quite an exciting
13:35 ride to be honest with you as well. So,
13:36 we're looking forward to it in that
13:38 respect. And and Sunonny, my last
13:39 question to you. What's the thing you're
13:41 most looking forward to back here on
13:44 Earth? Oh, there's a couple things.
13:46 um really jumping in the ocean probably
13:50 is top, but uh pretty close after that
13:51 of course is his is his family and my
13:53 dogs. I just can't I can't wait to give
13:55 them a big hug.
13:58 Well, we wish you very safe return and
14:01 thank you for your service to our
14:03 country and thank you for your time.
14:05 Thank you, Michael. It's been a
14:06 pleasure. Good [Music]
14:13 luck station. And this is Houston ACR.
14:17 That concludes the event. Thank you. [Music]
