How Does the Wife of an Astronaut Deal With the Dangers and UnexpectedChallenges?

By Dennis Rainey

When Deanna Wilmore said goodbye to her husband Butch last June, she expected him to be gone just eight days.  Just your normal business trip, right?

But Butch is an astronaut, and this trip was to the International Space Station. Due to some equipment issues, Butch’s eight-day trip turned into nine months before he returned to earth a few days ago.

So how does an astronaut’s wife cope with unexpected twists like this? 

My wife Barbara and I interviewed Deanna last week to find out. I recently interviewed Butch on the space station (you can find those interviews here and here), so this was a great opportunity to learn more of what it’s like to send a husband into dangerous situations.

In one sense, this separation was not unusual for the Wilmores. As a Navy combat and test pilot, Butch logged over 8,000 hours of flight time and 663 landings on aircraft carriers. As an astronaut this was his third trip to space.  So Deanna has grown accustomed to separations and deployment.

And as a follower of Christ, she has learned how important it is to trust in God’s control during those times when you can’t control things yourself. During difficult times like this, she told us, “I just take one day to time and know that the Lord is in control, and it is His timing and not ours. ... So I tried to focus on that and know that all of this was for the Lord's glory and our good.”

As we talked with Deanna I couldn’t help but think of connected she was to her husband, because he said much the same thing in our interviews. It was obvious that Butch was content in his situation.

In our interview Deanna talked about how her daughters responded to the long separation from their father and how past experiences helped prepare her for this experience.

I also talked with her about the help she received from Butch’s brother and father. In the Navy, she says, they say that “everything that can go wrong will go wrong once your spouse leaves.” Her in-laws stepped up to help at some crucial times.

You can hear the interview with Deanna at our YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to Inspiring Courageous Faith, and catch the other podcasts we have up, including the two interviews with Commander Butch Wilmore.