Sunita Williams - one of the two NASA astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station - has responded after Donald Trump spoke out about her being 'abandoned' in space.
Speaking to press via video call on Friday (7 Feb), the 59-year-old responded to a bizarre request the President made last month.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, both test pilots and retired navy captains, were sky-rocketed into space last year for an eight-day mission, docking their in a Boeing Starliner onto the International Space Station (ISS) on 5 June.
Just days into their voyage, however, and the pair began enduring technical issues, such as fuel leaks, helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a broken propellant valve, as per the BBC.
The pair have since been stuck in space for 250 days and counting.
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NASA was subsequently forced to delay a number of missions aimed at retrieving the pair, and as such, last year, they reached out to Elon Musk's space exploration firm SpaceX for assistance.
Trump's promise to astronauts stuck in space
Last month, however, Donald Trump appeared to be using the situation in space to his political advantage, releasing a promise about rescuing the pair while simultaneously firing shots at his presidential predecessor.
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Taking to Truth Social - his own social media platform - on 28 January, the 78-year-old claimed in a statement which seemed rather random: "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."
Republican leader Trump added at the time: "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!!!"
Just hours later, Musk responded to Trump's demand, accepting his challenge with a statement of his own, which was posted on X (formerly Twitter).
"The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible," 53-year-old Musk wrote. "We will do so."
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He also name-dropped Trump's predecessor, adding: "Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
For the record, the Biden administration did partner up with SpaceX in an attempt to bring Williams and Wilmore home, but were forced to delay a rescue mission several times.
Sunita Williams appears to respond to Trump
As we say, however, Williams has since issued a response to Trump's supposed message of concern, insisting she and her counterpart are totally fine where they are.
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Speaking to CBS Evening News' co-anchor John Dickerson via video call on Friday (7 February), she began by confessing: "I don't think I'm abandoned. I don't think we're stuck up here."
Williams continued: "We've got food. We've got clothes. We have a ride home in case anything really bad does happen to the International Space Station.
"We're in a posture... where we have the International Space Station fully manned and doing what the taxpayers wanted, to do world-class science."
Seemingly snubbing Trump, she concluded her message by adding: "And so I feel honoured, like I said, to be here and a part of the team."
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According to the Mail, an update issued by NASA last week revealed that SpaceX's rescue mission had been brought forward two weeks earlier than originally scheduled, with Williams and Wilmore scheduled to be home around March 19.
So, by the time Williams and Wilmore have been rescued - according to the new date - they'll have been up in space for a mind-blowing 286 days.
According to a report filed by Ars Technica, NASA and SpaceX are working to resolve the issue with C213 Dragon, which was initially scheduled to launch in February before becoming delayed due to apparent battery problems.
A source has told press that SpaceX's Endurance ship will be reused to swap out the crew and allow the two to hitch a ride back.
Topics: Nasa, Space, Technology, US News, News, Donald Trump, Politics
Rhianna Benson