Donald Trump has instructed Elon Musk to retrieve NASA astronauts who have reportedly been stranded in space for more than six months.
Since June 2024, NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have been marooned at the space station, unable to commence their return journey to Earth.
President Donald Trump has urged Elon Musk and SpaceX to undertake the retrieval of two astronauts, asserting that the Biden Administration has abandoned them in space.
Commencing from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5, 2024, the Boeing Starliner Calypso, operated by NASA, initiated an expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) with a duration of eight days.
Regrettably, it has been over six months since astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore were extracted from space, and they have yet to return.
As the Boeing Starliner Calypso was approaching the International Space Station (ISS), a malfunction occurred in the capsule’s thrusters. Consequently, NASA concluded that it would pose an excessive risk for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth aboard the spacecraft as originally scheduled on June 14.
Moreover, their return was subsequently delayed, and a strategy was established for the pair to return with SpaceX Crew-9. Subsequently, NASA disclosed in a blog post that they had made additional modifications to the scheduled date for the retrieval of Williams and Wilmore.
The SpaceX Crew-10 mission’s website articulated that the objective is to launch four crew members to the International Space Station no earlier than late March 2025.
The amendment grants the teams from NASA and SpaceX an extended timeframe to complete the processing of a new Dragon spacecraft designated for the upcoming mission. “The statement further indicated that the new spacecraft is expected to arrive at the company’s processing facility in Florida at the beginning of January.”
Consequently, the return of Williams and Wilmore to Earth will be deferred until March 2025.
Notwithstanding this, it has been reported that Donald Trump has made a formal request to Elon Musk to expedite the return of the astronauts to Earth. He made this announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, last night (January 28), saying, “I have just asked Elon Musk and Space X to ‘go get’ the two courageous astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration.”
They have been waiting on the Space Station for a considerable amount of time. Elon is expected to arrive shortly. I sincerely hope that all individuals remain secure. Wishing you great success, Elon!
Earlier today, Musk disseminated a message on Twitter, which he supplemented with an emoji resembling a salute.
Notwithstanding Trump’s allegations that “the Biden Administration” has “virtually abandoned” the astronauts, NASA has indicated that it, in conjunction with SpaceX, has “evaluated various options for overseeing the forthcoming crewed handover.”
These alternatives encompass the deployment of an additional Dragon spacecraft and adjustments to the manifest.
“Upon thorough deliberation, the team concluded that the optimal course of action for fulfilling NASA’s requirements and attaining the objectives for the space station in 2025 would be to launch Crew-10 in late March, subsequent to the completion of the new Dragon spacecraft,” the blog post articulated in its conclusion.