Local News

One of the Boeing Starliner astronauts ‘not stuck’ in space is a Needham native

Sunita Williams, a Needham High grad and namesake of a local elementary school, is currently at the International Space Station. It's unclear when she will come home.

In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)

By Molly Farrar

July 3, 2024

Astronaut Sunita Williams called in from space last month to the Needham elementary school named after her. Wearing a Sunita L. Williams Wildcats sweatshirt, she answered questions from students while completing a test flight for Boeing’s Starliner.

That was June 10. She and astronaut Butch Wilmore were expected to stay aboard the International Space Station for about a week before departing. Now, the pair are entering their fourth week in orbit, and there’s no timeline to bring them home.

But, Williams, a Needham native and alumnus of Needham High School, and Wilmore are not stranded, NPR reported.

“We’re not stuck on ISS,” Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president for its Commercial Crew Program, said at a news conference on June 28. “The crew is not in any danger and there’s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.”

Williams, born in Ohio, considers Needham her hometown. She has been on two other space missions since becoming a NASA astronaut in 1998 and was previously a record holder for cumulative spacewalking time by a woman astronaut until 2017.

Needham renamed the elementary school in 2019 to honor the astronaut and retired Navy captain, which also marked the town’s first school named for a woman of color.

“My dad came, immigrated from India with nothing,” Williams said. “My parents didn’t have much and we had a wonderful life, it’s pretty cool.”

#Starliner pilot @Astro_Suni spoke to students at her namesake school, Sunita L. Williams Elementary, from @Space_Station.

Those students then had their own space experience via our Future U STEM program.

You can also experience Future U: https://t.co/32Jczsz6FM pic.twitter.com/AhbDh0CuRF
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) June 21, 2024

Starliner’s rocky rocket to space

Starliner’s unmanned test flight in 2019 didn’t reach the space station. Boeing said they failed to conduct full testing in their space debut. The aerospace company was hired in 2014 along with SpaceX by NASA to design and build its next generation of spaceships. SpaceX began sending astronauts to space in 2020, but most recently, their new rocket exploded within minutes above Texas.

Starliner’s trip with Williams and Wilmore was delayed in May just two hours before takeoff due to a malfunction with an oxygen pressure-relief valve.

Boeing’s Starliner arrived at the ISS on June 7, after another delay due to last-minute issues with the rocket’s thruster. When in orbit, the capsule also experienced multiple helium leaks. Helium is used to pressurize the thruster’s fuel lines, but NASA said the two malfunctions were unrelated.

Boeing said in a statement Wednesday that the crew can stay docked through the month of July while they continue to test the Starliner. The crew is expected to give an update next week in a news conference.