The 16-year-old daughter of stranded Starliner astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore has spoken out about her father’s prolonged stay on the International Space Station (ISS). Daryn Wilmore blamed “negligence” and “a lot of politics” for the extended mission, which was initially expected to last ten days. Her father is now scheduled to return to Earth on March 19, over nine months later than planned.
Daryn shared her feelings about her father’s stay in a TikTok video, expressing how she longs to hug him again and bemoaning the family moments he has missed during the orbital mishap. She stated that “there’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of things that I’m not at liberty say in that I don’t know fully about” and attributed the issues to “negligence.”
Despite her frustration, Daryn said she is not depressed over her father’s situation. Her family gets to speak with him almost daily, and he is keeping busy. Recently, they found out he will most likely return in mid-March, which excites them. The 16-year-old expressed that she misses her father and is looking forward to reconnecting.
NASA confirmed it is working with SpaceX to bring the astronauts back from the ISS as soon as practical. The space agency noted that SpaceX has been conducting regular crewed missions every six months, ensuring smooth astronaut transitions.
Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/stranded-astronaut-butch-wilmores-daughter-blames-negligence-politics-for-long-space-stay-7870869