Overview
- Wilmore concluded a 25-year NASA career with 464 cumulative days in space aboard the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Dragon.
- When Starliner’s propulsion module suffered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions in June 2024, NASA kept him on the ISS to prioritize crew safety.
- The agency sent Starliner home empty last fall and returned Wilmore on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon in March 2025 as part of established contingency protocols.
- A former U.S. Navy test pilot, Wilmore performed five spacewalks totaling 32 hours and led station maintenance and research tasks during his extended mission.
- His retirement draws fresh attention to Boeing Starliner’s reliability challenges and reinforces NASA’s strategy of balancing multiple commercial crew partners.