Featured Image Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Topics: Space, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, News
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Space, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, News
Donald Trump shared a very specific request to Elon Musk regarding two NASA astronauts who are stranded in space.
Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024 after their Boeing Starliner aircraft experienced technical issues and was forced to return to Earth without them. Their mission was only meant to last eight days, but it has now lasted eight months.
President Trump called on Musk to bring Williams and Wilmore back down to Earth, a request that seemed quite random.
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The former Apprentice US host also used this as an opportunity to take another swipe at his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Posting on his own social media platform, Truth Social, on 28 January, he claimed: "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden administration."
He added: "They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!"
In the hours before Trump shared his demand, Musk accepted his challenge. In a post shared on X, the Tesla boss declared: "The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
However, the Biden administration already partnered up with SpaceX to try and bring the astronauts home. NASA previously said that the astronauts would return home in February, however, the agency updated this timeline in December.
The agency now says the targeted return date is no earlier than late March.
Williams and Wilmore have spoken to press from the ISS about a routine they've been forced to implement into their daily lives, which could keep the potentially-debilitating condition at bay.
Despite 58-year-old Williams branding space her 'happy place', she admitted that she longed to be reunited with her family and two dogs.
Amongst the other issues they're forced to face on a daily basis is the loss of bone density, caused by microgravity.
The pair are forced to conduct around two or more hours of exercise everyday, in order to strengthen their bones.
"Your joints don't hurt, which is quite nice," 61-year-old Wilmore explained.
The pair also spoke to Needham High School in Massachusetts on Monday (3 Feb), where Williams also revealed that life with no gravity meant that she'd lost the ability to carry out several basic tasks, admitting she can't remember how to walk.
"I've been up here long enough, right now I've been trying to remember what it's like to walk," she admitted. "I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down."
However, it's not all doom and gloom.
"But Butch [Wilmore] and I have been up here for a number of months, we’ve been on the workout gear. We’ve got a bike, we got a treadmill and we got weightlifting equipment,” Williams said. "And I could definitely tell that weightlifting - which is not something I do all the time - has definitely changed me. My thighs are a little bigger, my butt is a little bigger, we do a lot of squats."