NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore retires lower than 5 months after prolonged Starliner spaceflight

One of NASA’s two astronauts who piloted the ill-fated Boeing Starliner crew capsule has retired from the area company, lower than 5 months after his unexpectedly lengthy spaceflight got here to an finish.

NASA introduced Butch Wilmore’s departure on August 6.

Wilmore and Suni Williams launched final summer season as check pilots on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. What ought to have been a weeklong journey to the International Space Station was a keep of greater than 9 months due to Boeing’s malfunctioning Starliner. Starliner got here again empty, and Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth in March with SpaceX.

Wilmore, 62, had already retired from the Navy. Williams, 59, additionally a retired Navy captain, remains to be with NASA. She joined Second Lady Usha Vance at Johnson Space Center in Houston earlier this week, collaborating in a summer season studying problem for schoolchildren.

Selected as an astronaut in 2000, Wilmore logged 464 days in orbit over three missions. His last spaceflight made up almost two-thirds of that whole: 286 days.

“Throughout his career, Butch has exemplified the technical excellence of what is required of an astronaut,” NASA’s chief astronaut Joe Acaba said in a statement. “As he steps into this new chapter, that same dedication will no doubt continue to show in whatever he decides to do next.”