NASA Astronaut’s Daughter Reacts to Her Dad’s Big Return to Earth
Barry “Butch” Wilmore’s daughter took to TikTok to share her thoughts on his long-awaited homecoming.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
After being stranded up in space for almost nine months, Barry “Butch” Wilmore was finally headed back to Earth this week—a dramatic journey his daughter documented on TikTok.
Daryn Wilmore had been giving her TikTok followers regular updates about her dad and Sunita “Suni” Williams’ time on the International Space Station after a mission in June meant to last around a week turned into nine long months.
On Tuesday, she uploaded a video mere hours before the two astronauts successfully landed off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, exclaiming to the camera “it’s happening guys, it’s finally happening.”
“Hi everyone, welcome to the very final installment of my dad is stuck in space, because he’s not anymore!” the young Wilmore opens the video. “He’s currently, as I’m posting this, orbiting the earth.”
Daryn goes on to explain in the TikTok that her family is not throwing a big party for her dad, but might host a small get together with a few close friends when they go to her uncle’s home in Tennessee over the summer. For now, she opted for making him his favorite dessert: pecan pie.
“I’m proud of my dad and I love him so much,” she said.
Sign Up for Our Beast Digest Newsletter
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
She also reveals that she created a list of all his favorite things, and things they used to do together.
Daryn said she hopes to go through them all before heading back to school this fall—or in the following months. “Just to do what we have loved doing and make up for some lost time,” she added.
Though her dad was finally on his way back, she said he would still have to go through some more tests and take time to get re-acclimated to “gravity” and life on Earth, since he’s “still technically part of the experiment of human space flight.”
“Hollywood, I think a movie should happen,” she adds, before ending her TikTok with a short and sweet message: “Thank you guys all so much, and he’s coming home!”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.