CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two experienced Navy test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, are set to extend their stay at the International Space Station, marking a significant milestone in their spacefaring careers. The decision was made by NASA on Saturday, opting for the astronauts to wait for a ride with SpaceX in late February instead of returning in their troubled Boeing capsule, pushing their mission to over eight months from the original eight-day itinerary.
Butch Wilmore, 61, hails from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and has an impressive background as a Navy test pilot with over 8,000 hours of flying time and 663 aircraft carrier landings. He flew combat missions during the first Gulf War and was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2000. Wilmore has previously visited the International Space Station in 2009 and spent six months aboard the orbiting lab in 2014, conducting four spacewalks.
