How Do Astronauts Communicate With Their Families From Space? What It’s Like to Be Stuck on the International Space Station

It has been confirmed that the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) since early June 2024 are confirmed to remain in space until 2025, and return home on SpaceX. 

Their original eight-day journey has extended to over two months and will not end until early 2025. But since the astronauts were unprepared for such a long trip, many have wondered how they keep in touch with their families. 

Can astronauts speak to their families from space?

Although it seems impossible, astronauts can speak to their families from space. For those who are at the International Space Station, which is where Wilmore and Williams have been stuck, the internet is just as good as it is here on Earth, and it might be even better. 

“When astronauts are really close to Earth, like on the International Space Station, they communicate almost instantly using the internet,” says analogue astronaut, Joshua Gribben. “[They] might even have better internet than we do at home.”

Astronauts who are staying at the International Space Station are able to keep in touch with their families via video call, email and phone calls. 

What NASA has said about Wilmore and Williams’ return to Earth

NASA has just announced that Willmore and Williams’ trip will last another six months as they have to wait until SpaceX arrives in 2025. 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained, “Space flight is risky — even at its safest and even at its most routine — and a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.”

Although the Boeing officials expressed no concern with Starliner spacecraft, NASA finds it a safer and better option to wait for the arrival of SpaceX. “There was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program explained. 

He continued, “If we had a model, [if] we had a way to accurately predict what the thrusters would do for the undock and all the way through the deorbit burn, through the separation sequence, I think we would have taken a different course of action.”

What went wrong with the Starliner spacecraft

When Wilmore and Williams traveled to space back in June, the spacecraft they took, the Boeing Starliner, experienced issues. On June 5, the Starliner endured helium leaks, as well as thrusters that functioned improperly.

Although the issues seemed minor at first, it was later determined that the spacecraft was unsafe to return to Earth. Nelson explained that NASA is not ready to take risks with their return. “We have had mistakes done in the past: We lost two space shuttles as a result of there not being a culture in which information could come forward.”And while Boeing is consistent with the fact their spacecraft is safe for return, they shared that it will come back to Earth uncrewed. “We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.”

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