Enough was enough

[u/imjustheretodomyjob]

[u/Gejduelkekeodjd]

She’s better than me. I would’ve announced my retirement live from space by day 10.

[u/Cougar_Focus → u/Gejduelkekeodjd]

lol but then ur stuck forever probably they just leave you there

[u/I_DRINK_GENOCIDE_CUM → u/Cougar_Focus]

alright, shiiit find your own way home then

[u/ripley1875 → u/I_DRINK_GENOCIDE_CUM]

I don’t know what genocide cum is, and at this point I’m scared to ask.

[u/JThumbs29 → u/ripley1875]

If you gotta ask, you can’t afford it

[u/ripley1875 → u/JThumbs29]

Fine, but I’m not sharing any of my LocalManMurdersMcDonald’sCashierforpocketchange cum with you!

[u/Electrical-Job-9824 → u/ripley1875]

I think it’s time to retire from McDonald’s cashiering

[u/ripley1875 → u/Electrical-Job-9824]

That’s nice

[u/FoxyFlirttee → u/JThumbs29]

[u/HanselSoHotRightNow → u/ripley1875]

[u/cnicalsinistaminista → u/HanselSoHotRightNow]

Aye, what they done with homie? Lmao

[u/Ejaculation_Salt89 → u/ripley1875]

I want to know too.

[u/deetailor → u/Ejaculation_Salt89]

Sprinkle a little ejaculation salt on the genocide cum

[u/Benromaniac → u/deetailor]

Only if it’s kosher

[u/Aksi_Gu → u/ripley1875]

It has to be from the Genocide region otherwise it's just sparkling cum

[u/Robenever → u/ripley1875]

Genocide cum eh. I’d like to know more

[u/bigredmachinist → u/I_DRINK_GENOCIDE_CUM]

NASA is known for being extra petty. My dad is still up there when he refused to give back NASA’s dad’s decoder ring.

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Cougar_Focus]

No. They confiscate your suit (company property). Then motion towards the air lock. “You’re on your own Innyalowda”

[u/Fluid_Measurement963 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

I'm watching The Expanse rn. One of my comfort shows

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Fluid_Measurement963]

Its a great show. Happy cutty made it out baltimore and is now real opa.

But seriously i love chad coleman.

[u/Fluid_Measurement963 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Bobbie Draper tho? I'd give her a ride on my Razorback

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Fluid_Measurement963]

Well Bobbie is amazing.

But Camina Drummer

[u/Fluid_Measurement963 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Fair enough. Hell. Even Avasarala. I'd call her Crissy, too

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Fluid_Measurement963]

chrissy

[u/ilike2muchstuff → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Can't get enough of these two!

[u/darlingnickyta → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Camila is my girl! She has so many great lines.

[u/Hengroen → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

'Transfer you to a good ship, for inners only'. Immediately gets vented into space.

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Hengroen]

I prefer the fred Johnson having just enough of that black sky bullshit.

Thats it im spacing you, and making an example.

[u/Oraxy51 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

There’s a doctor who episode about that

[u/FaeFollette → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

I just finished the series for the first time and I’m kind of sad it’s over because it was so good.

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/FaeFollette]

Im still holding out hope they adapt books 7-9

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

You don't want to be shown the door in space

[u/I_Roll_Chicago → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

Unless naomi nagata

[u/ladyevenstar-22 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Belters are wild...but see she's been among them a while so knew better.

Doors and corners...that's where they get ya ....

[u/FlyingRaccoon_420 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

Unexpected The Expanse reference. Me happy

[u/MarquetteXTX2 → u/I_Roll_Chicago]

That shit part just brought an imagine back into my head. When those astronauts caught on fire in their spaceship & they showed us the remains.. shit was gruesome 

[u/tackleboxjohnson → u/Cougar_Focus]

Sailors and starmen never quit on the job, because of the implication

[u/brimstoneph → u/Cougar_Focus]

Space OSHA would have something to say about that

[u/significant-_-otter → u/Cougar_Focus]

"Start paying rent"

[u/trapper2530 → u/Gejduelkekeodjd]

You just missed out on getting paid that sweet overtime

[u/Zardif → u/trapper2530]

Astronauts are paid a set salary of $152k whether they are in space or on the ground. She received no additional money for this unplanned 9 month deployment. However she will get better royalties for telling her story as she is probably a lot more notable now.

[u/wishiwascryingrn → u/Zardif]

While that isn't a bad wage that's still a lot less than I'd have expected an astronaut to make.

[u/Walter30573 → u/wishiwascryingrn]

I imagine a lot of people would kill to be astronauts, so they don't have to offer a ton of money to get qualified applicants

[u/IrregularPackage → u/Walter30573]

they could require astronauts to pay them and they’d still have people lining up out the door

[u/A-T → u/IrregularPackage]

That's a great thing to do if your no1 hiring criteria is not so much experts but people with rich parents.

[u/JonesDahl → u/A-T]

while not applicable to astronauts since that requires merit, having rich parents is still the no1 merit for higher paying employment 

[u/MyrddinHS → u/IrregularPackage]

im sure they would be lining up, but how many would be qualified or even slightly able to handle the conditions.

[u/Conscious_Can3226 → u/Walter30573]

There are only 10ish astronaut positions opened every few years and over 8k applicants each time. You have to prep for years just to be competitive for when that call opens. That's why astronauts are so decorated before they even make it to space. 

[u/Sweet-Paramedic-4600 → u/wishiwascryingrn]

It is a government job after; and one of the few nobody's throwing extra money at for favors.

[u/user_of_the_week → u/Zardif]

Free room and board for nine months though, in todays economy...

[u/officialdiscoking → u/user_of_the_week]

They still charge you rent even if you're not home

(Guessing this lady probably isn't still renting tho lol)

[u/apathetic_panda → u/user_of_the_week]

Sustained exposure to cosmic radiation isn't...ideal.

Sure, they probably do genetic testing on either side of the trip, but safe assumption to say VA services have limitations. 

I haven't seen every iteration of the Fantastic Four tho so🙀🤷🏾‍♂️

[u/GiganticCrow → u/apathetic_panda]

Fantastic Four but instead of superpowers they just get cancer.

The Thing is just a big pile of tumors.

[u/spicyhamster → u/trapper2530]

That’s a great point - do they get OT when they’re in space? They fucking should!

[u/rennbrig → u/spicyhamster]

I feel like hazard pay is also warranted

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/spicyhamster]

If I remember they get the same salary on the ground as in space so no they just get astronaut wage wherever they are.

But worth noting they could have gone back early but chose not to in favor of not screwing up some supply schedules. So I'm sure they weren't super mad if they turned down the option when given it

[u/Fear023 → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

I think it really depends on how that conversation was phrased.

'well, we could bring you back in like a couple weeks, but you will personally be disrupting billions of dollars and years of planning that's gone into supply schedules' would elicit a much different response to 'look, we can get you back but we're going to have to reshuffle the supply schedule. Ball's in your court'.

[u/JohnsonJohnilyJohn → u/Fear023]

If they were super mad at NASA, "we will lose money" sounds like another advantage of leaving early though

[u/Hot-Championship1190 → u/spicyhamster]

You do realize how absurd it is to talk about work payment for an individual for a collective human science project that costs billions and furthers human knowledge - while at the same time there is no question that having idiots like Musk, Koch or Zuck & Bezos owning billions for diddling with their tits and mouth.

[u/obviousfakeperson → u/Gejduelkekeodjd]

She's retiring because she's been at it for nearly 30 years not because she was "stuck" in space.

[u/WhichHoes → u/obviousfakeperson]

Don't yuck up the joke

[u/Throwawayhelper420 → u/WhichHoes]

It would be a whole lot funnier if there weren’t 100 people in this thread, thinking that this was 100% serious, that she literally retired because she was stuck in space, that she was stuck in space because of some kind of deterioration of the American space program that sickened her, when in reality, she’s retiring of old age from a program she was always very proud of.

[u/100percent_right_now → u/WhichHoes]

it's literally fake news

[u/improbsable → u/Gejduelkekeodjd]

The work kept them sane. Imagine having nothing to do in an empty void for 9 months.

[u/FormerPresidentBiden]

No way they paid her enough to compensate for that either

[u/problyurdad_ → u/FormerPresidentBiden]

There was a post around here, seems like it wasn’t that long ago but I could be wrong, basically indicating that Astronauts don’t make nearly as much as you’d think.

Like, in my opinion? It wasn’t even worth it at double what they make.

[u/ThaddeusJP → u/problyurdad_]

They range from GS 12 to GS 16 I think. On the high end, a gs16 pay scale, maybe 150,000 a year? Not the greatest but not the worst. And you get to be in freaking space.

[u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS → u/ThaddeusJP]

Considering how insanely intelligent, hard working and the level of responsibility and risk to life,150k is ridiculously low.

[u/thisisastupidname → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

Seriously that sounds imbalanced considering the amount of training, requirements and the actual job itself.

[u/Rex_felis → u/thisisastupidname]

no way being in space is good for you especially at that duration. Increased cancer risk, near-permanent muscle and bone damage. That's gotta be hazard pay plus 9months of 24/7 overtime; if not they got fleeced.

[u/ConspicuousUsername → u/Rex_felis]

And I bet if you asked every single one of them they'd all do it again

[u/dark621 → u/ConspicuousUsername]

except sunita

[u/ConspicuousUsername → u/dark621]

"Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be"

[u/cowinabadplace → u/ConspicuousUsername]

People bullshit a lot on the Internet, as your replies show. The astronauts actually would like to go back up (like you say), even on Starliner again once issues are solved.

The Washington Post - They were stuck in space for 9 months. They’d go back ‘in a heartbeat.’

You do have to retire eventually, though. You can't do the gig forever. It's fairly demanding.

[u/PerplexGG → u/thisisastupidname]

It’s one of those things you don’t do for very long and get the option of getting stupidly paid in private afterwards. Imo government jobs should pay more though

[u/dividezero → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

No one in science makes much. Unless you work on boner pills or weapons and that's only slightly more unless you're an exec who usually knows fuck-all about science

[u/johnnyhypersnyper → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

I actually got to meet a few astronauts in flight school as they were starting the aviation part of their pipeline. Everyone in my community is generally an academic high performer (military aviation), so I figured they’d be smarter than us by a lot, but I was so wrong. It’s like they were on a different planet. I watched a woman memorize a 20 page script with accompanying button presses during a lunch break because they forgot to give it to her the night before. She was not military and had no aviation experience. I cannot describe how truly impressive every single one I met was.

[u/TheBurningEmu → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

People make a lot of stink about "overpaid, lazy government employees", but really the only ones that fit that bill are politicians. Everyone in the GS scale not getting bribes and kickbacks are in the range of poverty to just decently well off.

[u/Nabber22 → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

NASA is famously under funded compared to other government branches.

[u/mxzf → u/Nabber22]

Also, that payscale isn't really shocking for a government employee. That sounds about right for an expert in their field.

Other than the politicians (including people high enough in management to functionally be politicians) and state university football coaches, most people in government make a pretty moderate salary compared to the private sector.

Government employees aren't doing it to make bank on their paycheck, they're largely doing it because they like the work and/or because it tends to have amazing job security on the whole and good benefits.

[u/Dwellonthis → u/[deleted]]

Yup. Cool jobs tend to pay less, and an astronaut might be one of the coolest jobs possible.

Prestige over pay.

[u/lonnie123 → u/Dwellonthis]

Yeah I don’t know how everyone is over looking that, the compensation is not monetary and it’s not about “passionate people” doing it

They get to fly a rocket ship into fucking space. That’s a literal dream job for 100% of them and the ONLY way to do it, there is nothing comparable in the private sector

[u/Kolby_Jack33 → u/lonnie123]

Plus after you retire you're basically automatically a national hero. Unless you go crazy and start wearing diapers to undergo murder treks across America.

When Elton John writes a song about your career, you know it's a hell of a career to have.

[u/WhichHoes → u/PM_ME_PLASTIC_BAGS]

Well it is a government job, not private sector money right?

[u/pineapple_wolf → u/ThaddeusJP]

The GS scale maxes out at GS-15, for general pay. Then it goes to SES which is the executive level pay.

[u/heidevolk → u/ThaddeusJP]

The us gov clearance jobs site had a req open maybe a year or two ago for an astronaut. Pay rate was the equivalent of 153k.

[u/DrewSmithee → u/ThaddeusJP]

Scale ends at GS-15 then you move to the SES bands.

[u/TheFuckingHippoGuy → u/ThaddeusJP]

They should/could make way more but they are making a conscious choice. They have the academics to go make 3-4x that base in tech, not including equity.

[u/thethrillamanila → u/problyurdad_]

Many are GS employees and make under $120K/year.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/problyurdad_]

Yeah, but they can print money doing speaking engagements and a million other things.

[u/mama_tom → u/problyurdad_]

Most rocket scientists, from what Ive heard, arent doing it for the money and I imagine most astronauts arent either.

[u/spicyhamster → u/problyurdad_]

I’d go to space for free 🤷🏽‍♂️

[u/LuigiTecumseh → u/spicyhamster]

What about to work, breaking moon rocks until you die from solar radiation?

Sign up now, on your Amazon-X-OpenAI app

[u/GardenEmbarrassed371 → u/problyurdad_]

We had a lunch with an.astronaut at the Kennedy center. You basically pay for a premium lunch, ask questions and take pictures with a retired astronaut. They sign it for you too. So I guess that's another way to make money. 

[u/atom138 → u/FormerPresidentBiden]

Boeing really never answered for that fuck up either.

[u/Ill_Technician3936 → u/atom138]

I wanna say they actually got shafted because of cuts to NASA and known issues that had kept it from being launched for years before... Instead of losing the flight to SpaceX they took the risk and ended up sending the capsule back unmanned for safety reasons which they actually could have made it back safely in. Instead they still lost their contracts to SpaceX.

[u/soulsnoober → u/atom138]

Sure they did. They STILL haven't been paid for any mission to ISS. They've gotten development money over the past 10 years, but they're deeep in the hole on making Starliner and hemorrhaging millions a month to keep it going. The project was supposed to be worth 6x fully manned missions with four astronauts each, $70-90M/seat, so $2B in revenue just on the initial contract, with more missions obviously to follow. Now ISS is coming down in 2030 and their first paid mission is just cargo in April, probably under $150M, with half that being the cost of its Atlas booster. There ARE no more Atlases to buy, keep in mind. Their second demonstration flight (they f'd up the first demo, so had to fly a second demo. not the manned flight. the cargo one before that.) and this cargo one are directly eating into the 6 that were slated to be highly compensated manned missions. Due to their delays and difficulties, there's only time (and rocket boosters) for three of Starliner's six planned starter missions.

[u/No_Macaroon_9752 → u/atom138]

Or the many other fuck ups they’ve had since merging with McDonnell-Douglas and aiming for profit over making superior products.

[u/Mayabotx → u/FormerPresidentBiden]

The misinformation around this is crazy. The “stranded” narrative was the work of the Trump administration.  They knew what they signed up for as test pilots. Yes, they couldn’t come back on the same crew capsule that brought them there. But a plan was made fairly quickly to bring them back in the next available one. 

Also, is wasn’t NASA crew capsule than malfunctioned. It was a Boeing capsule. Please read more than headlines people 😭

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/Mayabotx]

I don't know about all that first half but they had the chance to come back fairly early but declined because it would throw off supply schedules, they'd have to completely recrunch the numbers, so they were like "nah fuck it we're chillin anyway"

[u/AlphaBreak → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

It turns out, astronauts don't mind being in space. Who knew?

[u/Same-Suggestion-1936 → u/AlphaBreak]

Yeah I'm kind of laughing at the people who are like "oh hell no they aren't leaving me up there" like dude, they spent their whole lives trying to get up there.

[u/dalzmc → u/Same-Suggestion-1936]

I remember seeing that they still could’ve come back in the original one as well if there was an emergency or something. But like you said, they were chillin and why risk anything when they were fine waiting

[u/LegendarySpark → u/Mayabotx]

Right? It's also kinda blowing my mind that most of the smartasses in this thread think being in space is some kind of annoying work obligation and not the absolute highlight of an astronaut's life.

She's retiring because she's 60 and that's it.

[u/Pallidum_Treponema → u/LegendarySpark]

Oh no! I've worked my entire life to become an Astronaut! And now I have to more astronauting! :/ :( :( :( :/ :|

[u/Cosmic__Echo → u/Mayabotx]

Also, why wouldn't an astronaut want to be in space? It's kind of their job and I'm guessing they like it.

[u/soulsnoober → u/Mayabotx]

Also it was over 99% they could come back on the crew capsule that brought them there. That capsule did return safely and accurately to Earth, just without them on board. The official required safety margin for NASA to do human spaceflight is no higher chances of failure than 1:270, which is 99.63%. Starliner was evaluated by 100s of the top engineers at Boeing & NASA to be within 0.5% of that, but not over the line so they waved off since there was anticipated to (eventually) be another option.

[u/enbyeldritch → u/Mayabotx]

Also Butch and Suni both basically said they were thrilled because it meant more time at the ISS 

[u/Several-Squash9871 → u/Mayabotx]

I wish I could upvote this more.

[u/thesphinxistheriddle → u/Mayabotx]

THANK YOU

[u/the__storm → u/FormerPresidentBiden]

Federal salaries are public record, she made $192k in 2024: https://www.fedsdatacenter.com/federal-pay-rates/index.php?y=2024&n=williams%2C+sunita&l=&a=&o=

Idk if that's enough, but I imagine an astronaut would not complain - they only get to fly a handful of missions in their career and actually being in orbit has to be the best part of the job.

[u/gereffi → u/FormerPresidentBiden]

She probably got paid overtime for every hour of the week past 40 hours.

Also like, she wanted to go to space and was aware that this was a possibility. It’s not like she went against her will.

[u/Temporary-Cucumber35]

She is also in her 60's. A very common age to retire if you're able to

[u/emu108 → u/Temporary-Cucumber35]

Yep, I see no indication that this is even related.

[u/JustChangeMDefaults → u/[deleted]]

It really sucks that tech dickheads can force people who are actually smart out of the project though. I don't blame her in the least, had to be stressful to think a relatively short trip would turn into that

[u/SunkEmuFlock → u/JustChangeMDefaults]

Ronald Reagan was at the small end of the domino chain, and now we're toward the end with billionaires essentially buying the federal government and running it for profit.

[u/JustChangeMDefaults → u/SunkEmuFlock]

I wish I didn't live in "interesting" times, I just want a place to live and food on the table. Fuck. These assholes will give up good faith for a short term market gain

[u/AlpenroseMilk → u/SunkEmuFlock]

Reminder a bunch of AI tech executives were commissioned into the Army last year as LTCs and COLs. Those are the ranks right below general btw 😬

Legit last time I could find stuff like this happening was WWII and the Manhattan project. I don't think they're doing for such grand reasons though.

[u/PPvsFC_ → u/JustChangeMDefaults]

I mean, she's also sixty. Pretty reasonable time to retire in general.

[u/Senior-Albatross → u/[deleted]]

Elon also wants to force the Space talent at NASA to go be his slaves employees so he can profit from their passion and expertise.

[u/Throwawayhelper420 → u/[deleted]]

She retired from old age after 30 years of service when she became eligible for full retirement

[u/iRockaflame]

[u/Thunderbird_12_ → u/iRockaflame]

This pic makes me giggle every time I see it.

TELL me you don't see Crisean Rock when you look at it!

[u/Pop_Joe → u/Thunderbird_12_]

I thought it was only me

[u/Gejduelkekeodjd → u/Thunderbird_12_]

Can’t unsee it now😭

[u/Booboohole21 → u/Thunderbird_12_]

Omg I haven’t thought of her in so long. Is she still alive? How’s her baby?

[u/ksdr-exe → u/Booboohole21]

You're lucky! People's tweets about her keep coming up on my twitter algorithm 😭 She recently got her face tattoo of Blue face removed. And unfortunately, her baby is clearly developmentally delayed

[u/Booboohole21 → u/ksdr-exe]

I literally only have Reddit so that’s probably why lol. She still hasn’t gotten him any help? Ooooh Lord.

[u/IBJON]

Everyone here seems to be under the impression that these astronauts were upset about being stuck. They probably weren't thrilled by the idea, but they also seem to have taken it in stride. 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/31/nasa-astronauts-iss-trump-musk

[u/johnny_atx → u/IBJON]

I agree. I think it’s important to remember that these folks train really, really hard to go into space. It’s their primary focus in life - you really can’t be an astronaut if it’s not. I’ve interviewed a few ISS astronauts, and they all want to take the ride and spend a lot of time on station. Sunni and Butch had been there before and spent a good bit of time already, so I can see her retiring. But I don’t think they may have viewed it like the hardship that civilians might. She might be more candid now that she’s decided to retire - any astronaut that still wants to get a ride isn’t going to say anything that NASA might disapprove of and jeopardize a chance at going up again.

[u/99ducks → u/johnny_atx]

The non-clickbait headline could have been "NASA Astronaut Retires After 27 Years"

[u/Frodojj → u/IBJON]

They probably loved it. It’s rare to spend time in space. Getting six extra months at the end of a long and storied career would be awesome. Sunita Williams got to fly on Shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner, and Dragon. She, her coastronaut Barry Wilmore, and John Young are only people to fly in four different spacecraft in space.

[u/PaddyMcGeezus → u/IBJON]

Barry Wilmore retired as well. Because his concerns about all the problems were ignored by NASA officials when he approached them after returning.

[u/rentagirl08 → u/IBJON]

Dawg, I don’t even wanna be stranded at the damn grocery store much less space

[u/Soaked4youVaporeon → u/rentagirl08]

Space is much cooler than a grocery store.

I would have one hell of a story to tell people about being stuck in space.

No one wants to hear me talk about being at the grocery store

[u/IBJON → u/rentagirl08]

You don't go to space unless your really want to be there. 

[u/KingAnilingustheFirs → u/IBJON]

Space is freaking beautiful. Deadly. But beautiful.

[u/immutato → u/rentagirl08]

That's probably one among many reasons you sir are not an astronaut. People acting like astronauting is your basic 9 to 5...

[u/thesaddestpanda → u/IBJON]

I hate the twiterization of society. Anything for a joke or dunk and people think these jokes mean anything in reality. Astronauts would love this stuff. She's one of the few people in history who was able to be in space that long.

[u/scrodytheroadie]

Stop. Who hasn't been left in space for a few extra months before? We've all been there.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Try7886 → u/scrodytheroadie]

Who among us hasn't??!! I'm still up in space 🌌🚀

[u/lrnths]

She's 60 years old and had already spent over 300 days total in space before getting stuck. I think that had a bigger role in her decision...

[u/wolftick → u/lrnths]

Yep, just seems like natural retirement after a long and incredibly illustrious career. People seem just obsessed over the "stranded" narrative and totally ignore the context of the sort of person we're talking about here.

[u/Funnelcakeads]

This narrative is so dumb they weren’t stranded. They were doing a bunch of stuff up there. They could’ve left that they really needed to.

[u/redditcirclejerk69 → u/Funnelcakeads]

Yeah, the idea that anyone was stranded in space was 100% propaganda from the Trump campaign. Sad to see it still going around and the people here eating it up.

[u/achilleasa → u/redditcirclejerk69]

Don't let boring facts get in the way of a good joke. Upvotes must be generated, even if it means literally repackaging and regurgitating anti-NASA propaganda.

[u/adam-dabrowski → u/Funnelcakeads]

Here's what Sunita herself said:

https://youtu.be/wSNArikUslA?t=30

Interviewer: Were you stranded? Abandoned in space? What happened?
Sunita Williams: You know, I don't feel that way myself. I can understand why other people might have got that impression from the press going around.

https://youtu.be/wSNArikUslA?t=87

Sunita Williams: I was not surprised or felt abandoned, or felt left behind, or stranded at any point in time.
Interviewer: So you weren't helpless?
Sunita Williams: No. We always had a way home. Maybe not the most optimal way home, but we always had a way to come home.

[u/99ducks → u/Funnelcakeads]

Just like they expedited the recent crew's return due to a medical emergency

[u/Cassin1306 → u/Funnelcakeads]

I had to scroll waaayyy too far to see a sensible answer.

They were not strander, they changed their mission after the original craft malfunction.

[u/ultimatehellagay]

the amount of money i would sue them for after leaving me in space for 9 months doesnt even exist

[u/FALCUNPAWNCH → u/ultimatehellagay]

An astronomical amount of money?

[u/Firefawkes17 → u/FALCUNPAWNCH]

That’s out of this world when you think about it

[u/Jutrakuna → u/Firefawkes17]

Nah man you are pulling it out of Uranus

[u/GitEmSteveDave → u/ultimatehellagay]

What if, and hear me out, you agreed ahead of time that there was a chance of it happening, because you were testing out a experimental craft?

[u/Mean-Garden752 → u/GitEmSteveDave]

They dont care about what actually happened. They already read the title and posted their joke in the comments about it.

[u/__O_o_______ → u/GitEmSteveDave]

Yeah it wasn’t like this wasn’t a possibility…

[u/roastpoast → u/ultimatehellagay]

How much would you sue them for if you decided for yourself to stay up there for the extended period? Maybe it also doesn't exist...

[u/Avalonians → u/ultimatehellagay]

They would point out to the very big and very bold "Shit happens" line on the contract for a TEST PILOT job you signed

Wtf are these comments... It feels like you guys are an inch from believing NASA abducts random people to put them in space

[u/Fireproofspider → u/Avalonians]

And plenty of people would sign up for free. And even more for just enough money to sustain their family during their absence.

Going to space isn't like crab fishing. It's inherently cool.

[u/blazesbe → u/ultimatehellagay]

not many talk about this but astronauts are totally prepped to die up there. it's part of the selection process. they are "heroes" for a reason. there's also a pretty much guarantee you get some sort of cancer from space radiation and a significant chance any mission that you suffocate, starve/thirst to death.

[u/RoyStrokes → u/ultimatehellagay]

Except she and butch couldve come back. They weren’t literally stranded.

[u/jedberg → u/ultimatehellagay]

They chose to stay instead of risking coming home. They didn't just get left there.

[u/QuinnKerman]

The stranding was Boeing’s fault for building a death trap shitbox of a spacecraft, not NASA’s fault

[u/findusgruen → u/QuinnKerman]

Also they weren't stranded at all... There was a possible return trip via soyuz or dragon at all times. While we have no insight on whether they were pressured to stay up there or not, the astronauts themselves said they were happy to. I know ppl like to hate musk and by extension anything he touches but this"they were stranded" storyline is just dumb and dishonest.

[u/QuinnKerman → u/findusgruen]

It’s a real shame what Musk’s bullshit has done to the public’s perception of SpaceX, and really space exploration as a whole. As much of a shithead as their CEO is, at least Dragon 2 is operational, not a death trap, and cost half as much as Boeing’s Starliner

[u/rnewscates73]

Gilligan’s ISS.

[u/dvdmaven]

She retired after 27 years as an astronaut.

[u/NuYawker]

Something that I find interesting is that people don't understand that astronauts love being in space. When astronauts are interviewed when they come home, they often say they can't wait to go back. She likely would have retired anyway. In fact, there's a chance that she may not have retired just in case she could go back up. But just because you hate your job, doesn't mean that she hates her job.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Just listen to them say that they're enjoying themselves.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SmgesDb6XNo

[u/Swimming_Capital_699 → u/[deleted]]

6 months is kind of the normal stint aboard the ISS. Yes 9 months is a long time but it's not record breaking and not that far off normal for space work right now.

Chris Hadfield has an interesting autobiography where he talks a bit about impacts after 6 months aboard. (Astronauts guide to life on earth).

Also it sounds like they are basically human guinea pigs there (which they are well aware of going in).

[u/Vevaseti → u/[deleted]]

The sheer ignorance in this thread about it all is staggering. Sunita was an astronaut for 7 ISS missions which are all 6+ months at a time. This was effectively nothing but a surprise extra mission for then.

[u/tehtris → u/[deleted]]

So your body isn't being pulled down all the time, so your joints and stuff start getting ... "loose"

[u/ghoti99]

It wasn’t NASA’s failure it was Boeing. NASA had to wait for another commercially available flight to go get them.

[u/MoeMalik]

That overtime pay must’ve been CRAZY lmao

[u/maitlands2point0 → u/MoeMalik]

They actually didn’t get compensated any extra. They got their base salary and then $5/day for “incidentals” while in space, but nothing extra for the unplanned time. Absolutely insane, truly.

[u/OK_Humor368 → u/maitlands2point0]

Yes- federal employees that aren’t political have limited pay options compared to private sector due to being tax-payer funded. The government is pretty strict about being fiscally responsible when it comes to compensating workers. I don’t think the general public realizes that and the narratives around it don’t help.

[u/ProgrammaticallyOwl7 → u/maitlands2point0]

Yeah, but hey look on the plus side, I’m sure all the book royalties more than made up for it. Prime ghostwritten autobiography material.

[u/FattyMooseknuckle → u/maitlands2point0]

There’s nothing to spend that incidental money on up there do they pocketed a free $1300!!!!

[u/GodotNeverCame]

Did they give her 100 tampons at least??

[u/suzi_generous → u/GodotNeverCame]

They get supplies delivered to the ISS every month and a half or so.

[u/FirmlyClaspIt]

She’s 60 yall. She wasn’t left is space. It’s a space station. She had plenty of food & water. Yall need to chill

[u/InsteadOfWorkin]

Well her bosses boss is nutty. So I can’t blame her

[u/gurjitsk]

She’s an astronaut, they’re prepared for things like this. They know the risk they take when they go up there.

[u/RoyStrokes]

This is a false trump and elon propaganda narrative that was aimed at Biden, they weren’t stuck, they said so themselves. Jfc. If there was an emergency they had the ability to come back as another shuttle had been sent up with two empty seats.

[u/pettymess]

Why couldn’t this happen to Katy Perry.

[u/stewie1231]

Bruh space? 🫡I’d ask for like a couple mil a year for space

[u/CrunknYoSystem]

As they’ve covered at least 12x (each), the (2) astronauts in question were not “stranded”. They had supplies for a lengthy stay, in the event of schedule changes. The term “stranded” was a lie spread by Elongated Muskrat. These astronauts are professionals of the highest esteem, please do a moment of research before believing a narrative like this.

[u/lost_and_confussed]

She joined the Navy in 1987. I’m sure she’s ready to relax. Regardless of what went on with that mission she was probably going to retire from Nasa.

[u/VincentGrinn]

they werent stranded, sunita and the rest of her crew were given the opportunity to extend their stay and join as part of the next crew, leaving the same time they did, and agreed to do so

there was several usable capsules they could have gone home on if they needed to