{"id":52514,"date":"2025-08-07T17:23:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52514\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T17:23:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:23:11","slug":"nasa-astronaut-butch-wilmore-retires-4-months-after-extended-stay-in-space-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/52514\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore retires 4 months after extended stay in space – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA<\/a> astronaut Butch Wilmore<\/a> has officially retired less than five months after his unexpectedly long spaceflight came to an end.<\/p>\n

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Wilmore, 62, announced he was hanging up his spacesuit for good on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 25 years at NASA, flying in four different spacecraft, accumulating 464 days in space, astronaut and test pilot Butch Wilmore has retired,\u201d NASA wrote in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This comes after Wilmore and Suni Williams<\/a> launched last summer<\/a> as test pilots on Boeing\u2019s first astronaut flight. What should have been a weeklong trip to the International Space Station turned into a stay of more than nine months because of Boeing\u2019s malfunctioning Starliner. Starliner came back empty<\/a>, and Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth in March<\/a> with SpaceX.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom my earliest days, I have been captivated by the marvels of creation, looking upward with an insatiable curiosity. This curiosity propelled me into the skies, and eventually to space, where the magnificence of the cosmos mirrored the glory of its creator in ways words can scarcely convey,\u201d Wilmore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven as I ventured beyond Earth\u2019s limits, I remained attuned to the beauty and significance of the world below, recognizing the same intricate design evident among the stars is also woven into the fabric of life at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore discuss extended ISS stay\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Steve Koerner, acting director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, called Wilmore\u2019s commitment to NASA\u2019s mission and dedication to human space exploration \u201ctruly exemplary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cHis lasting legacy of fortitude will continue to impact and inspire the Johnson workforce, future explorers, and the nation for generations. On behalf of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center, we thank Butch for his service,\u201d Koerner added.<\/p>\n

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During his time at NASA, Wilmore completed three missions, launching aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, Roscosmos Soyuz and Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station. He also conducted five spacewalks, totalling 32 hours, outside the orbital laboratory.<\/p>\n

Selected as an astronaut in 2000, Wilmore logged 464 days in orbit over his three missions. His final spaceflight made up nearly two-thirds of that total: 286 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout his career, Butch has exemplified the technical excellence of what is required of an astronaut. His mastery of complex systems, coupled with his adaptability and steadfast commitment to NASA\u2019s mission, has inspired us all,\u201d said Joe Acaba, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA Johnson.<\/p>\n

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Acaba added that as Wilmore steps into his next chapter, \u201cthat same dedication will no doubt continue to show in whatever he decides to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilmore had already retired from the navy. Williams, 59, also a retired navy captain, is still with NASA. She joined Vice-President JD Vance\u2019s wife Usha Vance<\/a> at Johnson Space Center in Houston earlier this week, taking part in a summer reading challenge for schoolchildren.<\/p>\n

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When Wilmore and Williams returned from space in March, they received a special welcome when they successfully splashed down<\/a> near Tallahassee, Fla., after nine months at the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

Wilmore, Williams,\u00a0NASA\u00a0astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were greeted by a pod of\u00a0dolphins<\/a>\u00a0that circled the capsule in the clear blue waters as divers readied it for hoisting onto the recovery ship.<\/p>\n

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Wilmore and Williams were expected to be gone for just a week or so after launching on Boeing\u2019s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, 2024. Many problems cropped up during the mission and NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then, SpaceX capsule issues added another month\u2019s delay.<\/p>\n

They circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 195 million kilometres by the time of splashdown.<\/p>\n

In his first interview after returning to Earth, Wilmore spoke about the thoughts he had while he was up in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about me,\u201d he told Fox News in March<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not about my feelings. It\u2019s about what this human space flight program is about. It\u2019s our national goals. And I have to wrap my mind around, what does our nation need out of me right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2014 with files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore has officially retired less than five months after his unexpectedly long spaceflight came to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[35644,49,48,307,66,519],"class_list":{"0":"post-52514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-butch-wilmore","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-nasa","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-trending"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}