President Donald Trump requested billionaire Elon Musk to “go get” two astronauts which were aboard the Worldwide Area Station since June 2024, claiming the Biden administration had “nearly deserted” them regardless that NASA has mentioned for months it plans to carry them residence quickly.
“I’ve simply requested Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the two courageous astronauts who’ve been nearly deserted in area by the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. Musk is the CEO of SpaceX. “They’ve been ready for a lot of months on @Area Station. Elon will quickly be on his approach. Hopefully, all will likely be secure. Good luck Elon!!!”
The 2 astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, traveled to the ISS in June for what was meant to be a brief journey aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However the Starliner had points with its propulsion system on its approach into area, and NASA later determined to increase the astronauts’ keep aboard the ISS and send the craft home empty.
It landed safely in New Mexico final September.
NASA as an alternative launched a brand new SpaceX craft later that month with two free seats, saying it might carry Wilmore and Williams residence aboard that vessel as quickly because the company’s subsequent crew, Crew-10, traveled to the ISS to permit for a crossover interval between astronauts.
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO by way of Getty Photographs
Crew-10 is now scheduled to go to area no earlier than the end of March. NASA has been emphatic in saying the 2 astronauts are in excellent health and are usually not stranded. The company added in December it had just lately resupplied the area station, saying it was well-stocked “with the whole lot the crew wants, together with meals, water, clothes and oxygen.”
Musk mentioned Tuesday evening he had spoken with Trump and that SpaceX deliberate to carry residence Wilmore and Williams “as quickly as attainable,” echoing the president’s criticisms of the Biden administration.
It’s unclear how Trump’s directive will impression NASA’s present plans. The New York Occasions notes the obvious choices to expedite the timeline are less than ideal, together with leaving the ISS understaffed by sending a crew residence early or sending Williams and Wilmore residence alone and leaving some crew behind.
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That would go away these astronauts with no journey again to Earth, the identical predicament Williams and Wilmore discovered themselves in final 12 months.
