Barry 'Butch' Wilmore

Sunny and I both had been space station commanders in the past.

We understood the space station.

That's one of the reasons we were selected for the position we were in, because you just never know.

And when our stay was extended, we were fully, fully qualified and prepared to do every single function on the space station, including spacewalks, which we did.

And that was because we pushed some of it.

We certainly did.

It wasn't just in the system.

We pushed and said we need to be ready because we just don't know.

But that's how we, and that mantra, that's how we roll, right?

We prepare, prepare for all contingencies, and this one was one of them.

So when we got extended, there was no reason.

I wouldn't have sent somebody up to get me, honestly, Glenn, because we were trained, and we were, we had the experience.

We'd been there before.

We understood space station operations, and I wouldn't have sent somebody up to get me either.

So could they have launched a rocket and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to do that, to come get us?

Probably could, but there was no need to do that.

Just work us into the normal flow, and that's how it played out.

So that's why we were there for almost 10 months.

And, you know, it's a small price to pay when you're – because to serve your country, especially in this fashion, is a privilege.

I know that's what all the four astronauts on board Artemis right now, that's the way they view it.