Elon Musk has vowed to return two stranded NASA astronauts to Earth ‘within about four weeks’, accusing the former administration of abandoning them in space.
The SpaceX founder accused former president Joe Biden of leaving Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams stranded in the International Space Station for ‘political reasons’ during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox alongside President Trump.
‘At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts,’ Musk said, revealing it would take ‘about four weeks’ for him to get them home.
‘They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good… He was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space.’
Musk said SpaceX has ‘brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success.’
Musk’s SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon Capsule in September in an effort to rescue the pair. It successfully arrived at the space station, but was not yet cleared to attempt to return to Earth with them on board.
Wilmore and Williams were only supposed to spend eight days at the space station.
After an issue was identified with their Boeing Starliner capsule, they were stranded. They’ve now been at the space station for 258 days.
The SpaceX founder accused former president Joe Biden of leaving Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stranded in the International Space Station for ‘political reasons’
Musk revealed his ambitious target alongside President Trump during an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox
Musk’s SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon Capsule in September in an effort to rescue the pair
After weeks of tests, NASA ultimately decided that Starliner was not safe enough to carry humans back to Earth and in September, the doomed spacecraft was sent home empty.
‘We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,’ Wilmore said.
‘I understand why others may think that,’ he added.
Williams agreed, saying: ‘It was a little bit longer stay than we had expected. We’ve made the most of it.’
The astronauts also admitted they needed to come home, but noted that keeping the normal cycle of astronauts on the ISS going is critical.
This handover period requires a new crew to take over the ISS from the previous crew.
‘At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts,’ Musk said, revealing it would take ‘about four weeks’ for him to get them home
The astronauts pleaded with the world to not see them as abandoned or stranded on the International Space Station. Pictured are Williams and Wilmore on June 5 when they launched to the ISS
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams admitted Thursday that they need to come home
Williams and Wilmore launched inside Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the ISS on June 5, 2024, with plans of an eight-day stay on the ship. However, the capsule was plagued with issues from the moment it launched to when it docked on the ISS on June 6
The statements come as NASA announced the pair will return home on March 19, about two weeks earlier than the previous schedule, after launching the incoming crew on March 12.
President Trump had hinted that he and Musk had a plan to bring the duo home sooner than anticipated in a TruthSocial post on January 28.
‘I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to ‘go get’ the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration,’ Trump wrote.
‘They have been waiting many months on [the] Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!’
Williams and Wilmore’s relief crew have been named as NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The incoming crew will meet with Williams and Wilmore for a brief about ongoing scientific and maintenance projects that they will be taking over.
