Cape Canaveral: NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams stated on Monday that they hold themselves partly responsible for the setbacks during their space mission, which initially promised to be a quick flight but turned into an extended stay. Both astronauts also confirmed they would fly on Boeing’s Starliner again, despite the challenges they encountered during the mission.

After spending over nine months aboard the International Space Station, Wilmore and Williams were brought back to Earth by SpaceX, as Boeing’s capsule failed to return them last year. 

In their first news conference since coming home, the pair said they were taken aback by all the interest and insisted they were only doing their job and putting the mission ahead of themselves and even their families.

Wilmore didn't shy from accepting some of the blame for Boeing's bungled test flight. “I'll start and point the finger and I'll blame me. I could have asked some questions and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide,” he told reporters. “All the way up and down the chain. We all are responsible. We all own this.”

Both astronauts said they would strap into Starliner again. “Because we're going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to fix them. We're going to make it work,” Wilmore said, adding he'd go back up “in a heartbeat.”

Williams noted that Starliner has “a lot of capability” and she wants to see it succeed. “We're all in,” she said.

The two will meet with Boeing leadership on Wednesday to provide a rundown on the flight and its problems.

“It's not for pointing fingers,” Wilmore said. “It's just to make the path clearer going forward.”

The pair’s original mission, which launched on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner, was intended to be a short stay. However, complications such as failed thrusters and helium leaks led to repeated delays, pushing their mission to a total of 286 days in space, far exceeding the initial plan. Their extended stay in space was a result of continued discussions among engineers, who ultimately judged Starliner too risky to return them home. NASA transferred them to SpaceX, which finally completed their return mission.

President Donald Trump urged SpaceX's Elon Musk to hurry things up, adding politics to the stuck astronauts' ordeal. The dragged-out drama finally ended two weeks ago with a flawless splashdown by SpaceX off the Florida Panhandle.

“It's great being back home after being up there,” Williams told The Associated Press in an interview. She waited until she was steadier on her feet before reuniting with her two Labrador retrievers the day after splashdown. "Pure joy.”

Wilmore already has a to-do list. His wife wants to replace all the shrubs in their yard before summer. “So I've got to get my body ready to dig holes,” he told the AP.

NASA said engineers still do not understand why Starliner's thrusters malfunctioned; more tests are planned through the summer. If engineers can figure out the thruster and leak issues, “Starliner is ready to go," Wilmore said.

The space agency may require another test flight — with cargo — before allowing astronauts to climb aboard. That redo could come by year's end.

Despite Starliner's rocky road, NASA officials said they stand behind the decision made years ago to have two competing US companies providing taxi service to and from the space station. But time is running out: The space station is set to be abandoned in five years and replaced in orbit by privately operated labs.

AP