Thread by @SpaceflightNow

In less than 15 minutes, NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams will be talking with members of the press from the International Space Station, following the departure of the Starliner spacecraft from the ISS on Sept. 6. The briefing will begin at 2:15 pm ET (1815 UTC).

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2/ The briefing is beginning now. Butch says the concern they've been hearing from folks around the world has been heartwarming. He says it was disappointing to see the Starliner spacecraft depart without them.

3/ Butch notes that Suni will be named the commander of the ISS when the change of command ceremony happens. She will be the commander during Expedition 72.

4/ Butch says he sent down his request for an absentee ballot today, since they won't be back in Houston in time to vote in the general election.

Suni adds that she and Butch miss their family and she misses her dogs as well.

5/ Butch says they don't feel "let down" by the decision that was ultimately made to return Starliner to Earth without its crew. Pointing to the NASA logo on Suni's shirt, he says it represents what NASA stands for: doing things that are not easy.

"It's a very risky business and things don't always turn out the way you want."

He calls back to his words from before the launch, emphasizing that this is at test flight and that they expected to find things along the way.

6/ Suni says they had some duties to perform on the ISS as the Starliner was undocking, but says they were up in the cupola to see it depart.

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7/ Asked what Boeing could've done differently in Starliner's development, Butch says they will be involved with discussions moving forward.

He says the data could've gotten them to the point of being able to fly home on Starliner, but there wasn't enough time. He says decisions needed to be made on a timeline and there just wasn't enough to get through it.

8/ Asked about his faith and how it's getting them through this time, Butch points to 2 Corinthians 9-10.

bible.com/bible/1/2CO.9.…

9/ Suni says they're excited to fly in two different spacecraft, noting that it's a unique opportunity for them. She says they'll be able to come back with evaluations of both spacecraft.

Butch points to his Navy aviator wings, which he says stands for honor and courage. He says they are trained at NASA to handle all types of situations and they are trained to be resilient.

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10/ Butch says the meetings that they were involved with from the ISS, he says they were thorough and all encompassing. He said as soon as the decision was made, they were on board.

Suni says there were a lot of opinions and a lot of data that was being digested. She says it was important for leadership to listen to everything and "really understand where it was going."

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11/ Asked if they were disappointed to see Starliner go away without them, Suni said she was actually excited to see it land safely. She says the crew on the ISS was watching the landing on their iPads.

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12/ Butch recalls being on the ISS when the Cygnus spacecraft exploded shortly after launching and says his first thought was disappointment for the Northrop Grumman team, since he knows how much goes into spaceflight.

He said his emotions in seeing Starliner land safely was the exact opposite. He was happy for the Boeing and NASA teams and said he didn't feel disappointed at that time.

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13/13 The briefing has concluded.