NASA’s stranded astronauts have put on a brave face throughout their uncertain nine-month stay on the International Space Station – but that appeared to slip in a recent interview.
Barry Wilmore seemed to suggest he and his crewmate Sunita Williams had been caught up in political games in Washington.
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, whose spaceflight company was tasked with bringing Williams and Wilmore home later this month, has repeatedly said the Biden administration ‘abandoned’ them for ‘political reasons.’
Musk has also said that former president Joe Biden rejected his offer to bring the astronauts home early because it would’ve made Donald Trump and his supporters ‘look good.’
During a Tuesday press conference, Williams and Wilmore were asked if the Biden administration did in fact decline Musk’s offer to bring them home early, to which Wilmore replied that Musk’s claim ‘is absolutely factual.’
‘I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual,’ Wilmore said, noting he and Williams were not briefed on what happened behind closed doors. So I believe him. I don’t know all those details, and I don’t think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for,’ he added.
The astronaut then gushed over Trump and Musk, saying ‘we have the utmost respect for them.’
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore (left), Sunita Williams (right) and Nick Hague (center), who is part of a different crew, took questions from reporters Tuesday. The Starliner astronauts finally weighed in on claims that politics influenced the decision to keep them in space
The interview comes just weeks after Trump told Musk to ‘go get’ the astronauts as soon as possible, leading to slightly earlier return date set for March 19 or 20.
Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on June 6 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for what was supposed to be an eight-day stay.
The spacecraft suffered numerous technical issues before, during and after the launch, and NASA determined it would be too risky to allow the astronauts to return to Earth in Starliner.
The agency sent the spacecraft home uncrewed in September. When NASA officials announced that decision, then-NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: ‘I can tell you unequivocally, from a personal standpoint, that politics has not played any part in this decision. It absolutely has nothing to do with it.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to NASA for comment on Musk’s recent claims, which suggest otherwise.
Since September, the Starliner astronauts have been waiting to hitch a ride home on SpaceX’s Crew-9 return flight, which is now scheduled to depart from the ISS on March 19.
But during the nine months they have spent on the space station, their return date has changed multiple times, and this has stirred up a political debate spearheaded by Musk.
‘Obviously we’ve heard some of these different things that are being said,’ Wilmore said during the Tuesday briefing.
Williams and Wilmore have said they do not feel ‘stranded’ or ‘abandoned’ on the International Space Station (ISS), even though their stay — which was supposed to last eight days — has now dragged on for nine months
Elon Musk has said the Biden administration rejected his offer to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home early because of his support for Donald Trump
‘I can tell you, at the outset, all of us have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously respect and admiration for our President of the United States, Donald Trump.’
During a Friday appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said the Biden administration did not want to jeopardize Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign and intentionally ‘pushed the return date past the inauguration date.’
Musk backed Trump during the 2024 presidential race, donating at least $288 million to his campaign and appearing at several MAGA rallies.
In Musk’s eyes, allowing him to bring the Starliner crew home early would have made Trump look like a hero. He also told Rogan that the Biden administration was suing SpaceX at the time.
‘So people say, like, ‘Oh, Elon’s making it up. The Biden administration wasn’t against SpaceX,’ he said.
‘I’m like, bro, the Department of Justice had a massive lawsuit against SpaceX for not hiring asylum seekers, even though it is illegal for us to hire anyone who is not a permanent resident.’
Trump has supported Musk’s claims that the Biden administration left Williams and Wilmore in space, saying in January that the former president ‘virtually abandoned them.’
Speaking about Trump and Musk during Tuesday’s briefing, Wilmore said: ‘We appreciate them, we appreciate all they do for us, for human spaceflight, for our nation. We’re thankful that they’re in the positions they’re in.’
‘The words they’ve said — politics — I mean, that’s part of life.
‘We understand that, and there’s an important reason why we have a political system, and the political system that we do have. And we’re behind it 100 percent.
‘We know what we’ve lived up here. We know the ins and outs and the specifics that they may not be privy to. And I’m sure they have some issues that they’re dealing with, information that they have that we are not privy to.
‘So when I think about your question, that’s part of life. We are on board with it, we support our nation, we support our nation’s leaders and we’re thankful for them.’
