NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Opens Up About Extended Stay in Space, Calls it Her 'Happy Place'

Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday it was hard to watch their Boeing capsule return to Earth without them. "You don't want to see it go off without you," said Wilmore. "But that's where we wound up." The duo made their first public comments Friday since the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the space station returned safely to Earth, leaving them behind. "You have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity," said Williams. NASA decided it was too risky for the test pilots to fly back on Starliner after the capsule ran into thrusters trouble and helium leaks after launching in June. Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged station crew members, chipping in on routine maintenance and experiments. They along with seven others on board recently welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American. The astronauts will remain at the orbiting laboratory until February when they'll ride back to Earth on a SpaceX rocket that'll launch at the end of the month with seats reserved for them for the return leg.