NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore retires less than five months after extended Starliner spaceflight

One of NASA’s two astronauts who piloted the ill-fated Boeing Starliner crew capsule has retired from the space agency, less than five months after his unexpectedly long spaceflight came to an end.

NASA announced Butch Wilmore’s departure on August 6.

Wilmore and Suni Williams launched last summer as test pilots on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. What should have been a weeklong trip to the International Space Station turned into a stay of more than nine months because of Boeing’s malfunctioning Starliner. Starliner came back empty, and Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth in March with SpaceX.

Wilmore, 62, had already retired from the Navy. Williams, 59, also a retired Navy captain, is still with NASA. She joined Second Lady Usha Vance at Johnson Space Center in Houston earlier this week, taking part in a summer reading challenge for schoolchildren.

Selected as an astronaut in 2000, Wilmore logged 464 days in orbit over three missions. His final spaceflight made up nearly two-thirds of that total: 286 days.

“Throughout his career, Butch has exemplified the technical excellence of what is required of an astronaut,” NASA’s chief astronaut Joe Acaba said in a statement. “As he steps into this new chapter, that same dedication will no doubt continue to show in whatever he decides to do next.”