Astronaut stuck in space shares what she misses about Earth as Elon Musk vows to bring her back

An astronaut who has been stuck in space since June has revealed the regular things about Earth she misses as Elon Musk vows to bring her back home.

Suni Williams, 59, has been living at the International Space Station (ISS) along with fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, 61, after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced mechanical issues and was sent back to Earth without them.

During a talk with students at Needham High School from the ISS on Monday (27 January), Williams gave a unique insight into life away from Earth.

“I’ve been up here long enough right now I’ve been trying to remember what it’s like to walk,” she told students. “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.”

She also told the students that her unexpectedly long stint in space came as “a little bit of a shock.”

Williams shared: “We knew that it would be probably a month or so, honestly. But the extended stay was just a little bit different,” she explained, according to CBS affiliate WBZ-TV.

NASA confirmed in August last year it was asking SpaceX to bring Williams and Wilmore home aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 capsule. The return was originally due to happen in February, CNN reports, but in December 2024, NASA announced that the SpaceX spacecraft that will return the pair of astronauts home won’t be ready to launch “no earlier than late March 2025.”

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavour that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in a press release.

“We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”Due to the delay, the astronauts celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas in space and even voted in the 2024 US elections.

Speaking of the recent elections, on Tuesday (28 January) Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X that his company SpaceX has been asked by President Donald Trump to return the astronauts home “as soon as possible.”

Musk said: “We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

However, the two astronauts are already scheduled to fly back on a spacecraft NASA is working on with SpaceX. Despite Musk throwing jabs at the Biden administration, NASA's plan to bring the astronauts back down to Earth with the help of SpaceX was confirmed in August.

Trump also made a statement on his own social media platform, Truth Social, on Tuesday: "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration," he wrote.

“They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!"

The demand to retrieve the two astronauts, and the criticism of Biden’s administration, has been called “unusual” and reportedly came as a “surprise” to officials, Reuters reports.

Williams and Wilmore will travel back to Earth with other astronauts as part of a scheduled crew notation.

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