As NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore launches aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station Monday, May 6 on its first crewed flight, one of his best friends will have played a key role in getting him there. Billy Stover, chief safety officer for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and Wilmore have been friends for more than 40 years. The pair’s friendship began in the 1980s at Tennessee Tech University on the football field. “We would do weight training and we would get paired up,” said Stover. “If he did 50 sit-ups, I had to do 55. Or we would see how many sit-ups we could g…