(NewsNation) — A Texas church, attended by two astronauts stranded in space aboard the Boeing Starliner, is praying for the crew’s safe return. Pastor Corey Johnson told NewsNation the pair are more friends and family than celebrities to local congregants.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Tracy Dyson are waiting to return from the International Space Station after the Starliner malfunctioned, delaying the astronauts’ return. Now, NASA officials say the Starliner may not return until early next year, causing concern for the family and friends of those aboard.
Dyson’s mission is not scheduled to end until September, but Wilmore was supposed to have returned several weeks ago along with another astronaut before the malfunctions took place. NASA has said it has multiple contingency plans in the works to get the crew members back to Earth.
“In some ways, we’re just taking it a day at a time just as (Wilmore) is,” Johnson who pastors at Providence Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas, told NewsNation Now.
Although astronauts enter space on a regular basis, Johnson said everything changes when those aboard the spacecraft are considered personal friends. Johnson said he has spoken with Wilmore several times and that the astronaut remains confident of a safe return from space.
“They’re not astronauts to us,” Johnson said. “They’re family. They’re friends. They have a day job that is different than most. But it’s exciting to get to watch. They’re more celebrities than we realize. I think when we’re around them, they’re just Barry (and) Tracy, but whenever we tune in and hear all their stories, it’s like, ‘Wow, they’re a big deal.”