NASA Astronaut's Daughter Speaks Out as Dad Returns to Earth After Being Stuck in Space for 9 Months
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03/19/2025 05:00 PM
As NASA astronaut Barry 'Butch' Wilmore spent 286 days in space, his daughter documented his anticipated return on TikTok
NASA HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
TikToker Daryn Wilmore is giving a major life update after her father, NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore, marked his anticipated return to Earth after an unexpected nine months stranded in outer space.
"Hi everyone, welcome to the very final installment of my dad is stuck in space, because he's not anymore!" Wilmore said in the TikTok video shared on March 18.
The video, posted just hours before the successful landing of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9, was part of her ongoing series where she has been updating followers on her dad's time in space.
"It's happening, guys, it's finally happening," she said after months of posting real-time updates about her father's mission.
Though she noted that her family wasn't planning a big party for his return, she revealed they would still be celebrating on a smaller scale, including possibly heading to her uncle's house for a small get-together with close friends. "I'm making him his favorite dessert, which is pecan pie," she revealed.
She sweetly added that she's made up an entire list of his favorite things and things they used to do together, which she plans on checking off before she heads back to college.
Joe Raedle/Getty
Butch Wilmore and Suni WilliamsAs one of the longest stays in space for a NASA astronaut, his return is not only a personal milestone for the Wilmore family but also a momentous occasion for the space community.
NASA astronauts — Barry and Sunita "Suni" Williams — launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5 on the first-ever crewed mission of Boeing's new Starliner capsule as a way to prove that it's ready to carry astronauts to and from the ISS, as reported by Space.com,
The mission was originally expected to last about ten days, but NASA began to push back the date to troubleshoot problems, and additional issues started to occur.
After months of delays, Wilmore and Williams safely splashed down around 6 p.m., local time, off the coast of Florida, on Tuesday, March 18. Joining them for the ride were fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who had been in space since September.
Elsewhere in her video, Wilmore explained that her father would still be going in for several tests over the next few days, noting he's "still technically part of the experiment of human space flight" and it would take some time for him to get reacclimated to Earth after spending so much time in space.
"I'm so proud of my dad and I love him so much," she said as she signed off her video, before quipping, "Hollywood, I think a movie should happen."
