Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore was one of the two astronauts who spent over nine months in space before being rescued. Butch and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams became stranded on the International Space Station after technical issues with their return capsule. They were supposed to spend 8 days on the ISS but ended up being there for 286 days. The pair splashed down in their Space X return capsule on the 19 March, landing in the ocean off the coast of Florida.
Commander Butch Wilmore is an American NASA astronaut and United States Navy test pilot, known for his role as pilot on Space Shuttle Atlantis during mission STS-129. Butch has made 5 trips into space. He is married to Deanna, and they have two daughters. Butch and Deanna are Christians, and he is an elder at their church in Pasadena, Texas. During his time on the ISS Butch participated in church services and prayer meetings virtually, giving the congregation a video tour of the ISS.
In a press conference when they were still on the ISS Butch was asked what life lessons he had learned from his “extended business trip”? He replied: “I can tell you honestly my feeling on all of this goes back to my faith. It’s bound in my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is working out his plan and his purposes for his glory throughout all of humanity, and how that plays into our lives is significant and important. I understand that He’s at work in all things. Some things are for the good. Some things to us look not so good. But it’s all working for his good for those that will believe. I’m completely content in the Lord and in His plan and purpose as it plays out in my life. Content means I’m satisfied with where the Lord has me, wherever that is.”
In an interview after his return Butch spoke of the importance of training. He and Suni weren’t scheduled to do a spacewalk, but they trained for it anyway – just in case. Then they ended up doing a spacewalk. Butch compared their extensive training with a Christian’s need to train for the inevitable hardships we face in life. He said, “If you’re not preparing for the difficulties, if you’re not preparing for those times when you’re ridiculed for your beliefs, if you’re not preparing now, you’re not going to be ready. You win a game by the hard work of training in all weathers as you prepare to play. You don’t win on the field of play; you win in the preparation. And it’s the same thing in the Christian life.”