Clint Brewer, recovering journalist and Nashville-area public policy expert, and Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-In-Chief of The Tennessee Star, wished Godspeed to the four astronauts returning to Earth on Tuesday following an unexpected months-long stay at the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams, from Massachusetts, and Butch Wilmore, a Tennessean born in Murfreesboro, arrived at the International Space Station in June 2024 for what was initially planned for a week-long trip on a Boeing Starliner flight.
The spacecraft, however, returned to Earth in September without Williams and Wilmore after NASA decided the flight home was too risky given a number of mechanical issues – including helium leaks and propulsion issues – the craft experienced during the arrival mission.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague are joining Williams and Wilmore on Tuesday’s return flight aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of America at about 5:57 p.m. EDT.
On Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Brewer and Leahy both wished the best for the astronauts throughout Tuesday’s mission.
“I’ll pray that it’s successful. It’s always a dangerous thing to reenter the atmosphere and splash down. Even with the best plan, things can go wrong. It’s not an exact science,” Brewer said.
Leahy added, “I’m nervous about it because obviously, there’s a risk with everything when it comes to space. Everything. Clearly if this splashdown has any problem whatsoever, it’s going to be Democrats who are going to use it to attack [President] Trump and Elon Musk.”
Looking ahead to the astronauts’ recovery from their extended stay at the International Space Station, Brewer explained how being in space for a prolonged period of time takes effect on the human body.
“They take in more radiation in space, and their muscles atrophy. They’re not getting as high of O2. There’s a lot that it does to the human body. There’s also a phenomenon…that astronauts, when they witness the earth from space for a long period of time, it has a psychological effect on human beings. Makes you dwell more on your own mortality, your place in the universe. It’s a deep experience, and apparently with some astronauts has caused psychological problems,” Brewer said.
“They’re going to have at least two and a half hours a day of physical rehab,” Leahy noted.
Tune in now to the Tennessee Bonus Hour on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk
– Watch LIVE here on X
– Listen on Spotify
– Listen on The John Fredericks Radio Network (WENO AM760 in Nashville)
– Read more at @TheTNStar https://t.co/ivPQpsm8X7— MichaelPatrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) March 18, 2025
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Crew-9” by SpaceX.
