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[text/observer network xiong chaoran] the original 8-day space journey was extended to at least 8 months. the two astronauts who previously entered space on boeing's "starliner" - barry wilmore and sunita williams - said that it was very painful to watch the malfunctioning spacecraft leave the international space station without being able to board the spacecraft, but they were glad that they were able to "anticipate accidents" because of their well-trained training.

according to the bbc report on september 13, due to possible malfunctions of the "starliner", nasa has told the two astronauts to continue to stay on the international space station. they looked good and healthy at the press conference that day. however, they also said that they "felt uncomfortable" about some problems on the "starliner" and they were still sad when they saw it leave the space station and return to earth this week without them on it.

barry wilmore and sunita williams hold a press conference on the international space station nasa photo

the two astronauts thanked people who sent them messages and prayers, and wilmore said, "for us, this kind of attention is particularly heartwarming." when asked if he was disappointed with nasa, wilmore replied, "absolutely not."

the bbc reported that neither astronaut was likely to say anything critical about nasa or boeing. however, wilmore admitted that there were indeed problems with the starliner. "when we had other options, we found some things that made us uncomfortable."

wilmore went on to add that he thinks starliner could eventually be used as a return vehicle. "we could have come back on starliner, but we just didn't have the time."

both astronauts said that this time in space was a challenging time for them, and they felt sad to see the "starliner" leave them. "we watched our spacecraft fly away like this." williams said.

wilmore said 90 percent of their training was "to prepare for the unexpected," adding that they would be stuck in space for "eight, nine, 10 months" if necessary.

two astronauts revealed they have applied for mail-in ballots to vote in the upcoming us presidential election. williams said being in space gave her time to think more about earth. "it opens the door and makes you think in a different way. this is our only planet and we should take care of it. there are so many people on earth sending us messages, and it makes you feel comfortable with everyone."

on june 5 this year, the boeing starliner was launched from the cape canaveral space force base in florida, usa, on a united launch alliance atlas 5 rocket, sending american astronauts wilmore and williams to the international space station. the spacecraft arrived at the international space station on june 6 and was originally scheduled to leave the space station and return to earth on june 14, but due to problems such as thruster failure and helium leakage, the return time has been repeatedly postponed.

on june 1, local time, the atlas 5 launch vehicle and the starliner spacecraft were waiting for launch.

on august 24th local time, masa announced the final decision. due to concerns about the safety of boeing's "starliner", the two american astronauts stranded on the international space station will change to the "dragon" spacecraft of the us spacex company to return to earth, regularly in february next year. the original 8-day space journey of the two will be extended to at least 8 months.

the bbc pointed out that boeing and spacex can be described as "competitors". both companies have obtained contracts from nasa to provide commercial space travel for astronauts in the hope of reducing costs.

on september 6, eastern time, boeing's "starliner" separated from the international space station and returned to earth without people. after the "starliner" returned, a nasa spokesperson said that he was happy with the successful landing, "it would have been better if it could go according to the original plan (the two astronauts returned together)."

cnn pointed out that the return performance of the "starliner" will be crucial to boeing's future. if the spacecraft encounters an accident on the way back, or nasa ultimately decides not to grant certification for the vehicle, it will once again hit boeing's already severely damaged reputation and cause boeing to suffer millions of losses.

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