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NASA announced Butch Wilmore’s departure on Wednesday.
Wilmore and Suni Williams launched last summer as test pilots on
Boeing’s 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’s malfunctioning
Starliner. Starliner came back empty, and Wilmore and Williams
returned to Earth in March with SpaceX.
Wilmore, 62, had already retired from the Navy. Williams, 59,
also a retired Navy captain, is still with NASA. She joined
Second Lady Usha Vance at Johnson Space Center in Houston
earlier this week, taking part in a summer reading challenge for
schoolchildren.
Selected as an astronaut in 2000, Wilmore logged 464 days in
orbit over three missions. His final spaceflight made up nearly
two-thirds of that total: 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.”
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