How Astronauts Barry Wilmore & Sunita Williams Are Spending Their Unexpected Extended Mission

When two American astronauts boarded a test trip to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5, they expected to return home within a few days. Well, about two months later, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams are still there. The pair, who are trapped indefinitely, now face the unexpected prospect of missing the whole summer—or two. Despite being stranded on the International Space Station, the two astronauts are not idly relaxing. Here’s how they are passing their time. The two have reportedly engaged themselves in daily activities and research 250 miles above Earth’s surface, including microbe studies, microgravity jogs, equipment fiddling, and witnessing some each of the 16 sunrises and sunsets that are visible every 24 hours, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

According to the report, Williams and Wilmore last spoke publicly in July during a brief press conference when she stated, “We’ve been thoroughly busy up here.”

Her list of tasks includes work on DNA sequencing, a “moon microscope” experiment and changing the pump in a system that turns astronaut pee into water.

Wilmore reportedly spent time last week checking plumbing hardware as well as put in a light meter in “Veggie,” an astronaut planting effort that has grown radishes among other crops. Williams set up equipment for high-definition filming.

NASA informed the media outlet that other operations included examining the production of optical fibres, deep cleaning a station module and collecting microbial samples from the water systems of the ISS.

Boeing Starliner astronauts Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, piloted the spacecraft to the ISS. It was a test trip intended to examine how the new spacecraft functions before it is used more often. It was the initial mission of its sort with passengers on board.

But as it got closer, issues started to surface. Among these were propulsion system leakage and the shutdown of a few thrusters, BBC reported.

Although they arrived at the space station without problem, they will require a different means of transportation to come home in the event that the Starliner fails to be deemed suitable to return to Earth.

Notably, Wilmore and Williams have conducted military jet and helicopter test flights, been deployed abroad for the Navy, and launched both American and Russian spacecraft to the ISS before launching into orbit this year.