Suni Williams, astronaut from Massachusetts, says getting stuck in space wasn't a surprise
BOSTON - Suni Williams only expected to be in space for a little more than a week when she blasted off toward the International Space Station on June 5. But 128 days later, the Needham, Massachusetts native is still out of this world, and it will be several more months before she can come home to Earth.
WBZ-TV meteorologist Jacob Wycoff spoke to Williams live on CBS News Boston Friday morning.
Williams co-piloted the Boeing Starliner spacecraft with commander Butch Wilmore to the ISS in June. NASA decided in August after weeks of debate that it would not bring the astronauts back to Earth on the Starliner because of concerns about helium leaks and degraded thrusters. The capsule landed in New Mexico without any problems last month, but left its crew behind.
Instead, Williams and Wilmore will hitch a ride back with two other astronauts in February aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry ship. If all goes well, they'll have spent more than 262 days in space before returning to Earth.
"It wasn't a surprise"
Williams said Friday she was involved in the discussion about the extended stay at the International Space Station.
"We got sort of warmed up the idea that we were staying a little longer, a little longer," Williams explained. "It wasn't a surprise by any stretch of the imagination. We knew the data that was out there that was coming in. We knew the thought process from our management and our leadership. You know, I backed them up. They opened the door for everybody to say their piece and to have a vote and understand where we stood with the issues that we had."
"I believe the right decision was made. That hey, you know why take the risk when there's another spacecraft up here that will be able to come home and so I think it was a process," Williams told Wycoff.
She said that she was disappointed to not have been able to finish the mission on the Starliner.
"I'm an optimist. I look at it like always like glass half full. We get to learn and train and fly in another spacecraft, so that's pretty awesome."
"The view never gets old"
Williams said that she quizzes herself about where she is at any moment over Earth.
"The view never gets old. I mean I have to keep myself from going to the window. And there's a bunch of us up here right now and so sometimes the Cupola and lab window get a little bit crowded and we have to get everybody a chance. It never gets old, you always want to go and take a look."
Advice for girls
Williams said that she would have never thought that she would grow up to be an astronaut when she was growing up in Needham.
"My biggest advice for little girls out there is just to don't have limits. Don't tell yourself no. Don't let anybody else tell you no, and just go for it in whatever field, whatever thing that you like to do, whatever you like to study, just do it and don't let anybody tell you no," she told WBZ.
She explained that she doesn't think about how she's one of the first Indian-Americans in space and that she's just doing her job like anyone else.
"I miss Boston"
Williams also spoke about what she's missing while being so far away.
"I have my Patriots shirt up here. I'm a little bit sorry that I'm missing New England football in the fall. It's the best time ever. Bruins are getting ready to start playing, you know, the Celtics. The Red Sox of course that was our summer, was a tumultuous summer for us, maybe a little bit of a tumultuous summer for the Red Sox." Williams told Wycoff.
"I miss Boston, I miss the sports, I miss the people."
Williams has been staying connected to Massachusetts during her extended stay in orbit. She gave the starting command from space for the Falmouth Road Race in August. Right after, she put on a number and ran the seven miles on the space station treadmill.
Williams was born in Ohio but considers Needham, where there is a school named after her, to be her hometown. The Needham High graduate was selected as an astronaut in 1998 and made her first spaceflight to the ISS in 2006.
Why exercise in space?
Fourth graders at the Suni Williams Elementary School had a chance to ask her Friday about why it's so important to stay in shape while in space.
"If you don't exercise while you're up here you're going to lose any muscle that you have cause you don't have to lift up anything. You don't have to lift yourself up. You don't have to run or walk, which creates the muscles in your legs. Nothing weighs anything so your muscles will start to go away," she explained.
"And a muscle that's included in that is your heart, (it) will start to get a little bit smaller too because it doesn't have to work as hard to pump that blood from the bottom of your feet all the way back up to your heart. So we need to exercise. We need to do aerobic exercise either running or on the bicycle."
Williams also explained that astronauts' bone density will start to diminish and they need to lift weights to keep it at a normal level so they can walk when they return to Earth.