Elon Musk has offered up a bizarre 'explanation' over the NASA astronauts currently stranded up in space.
Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June last year after their aircraft, the Boeing Starliner, experienced technical problems during what was supposed to be an eight-day mission.
Unable to return in the Boeing aircraft due to safety concerns, the aircraft was returned to Earth empty, while officials worked out a plan to bring the pair home.
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President Donald Trump has previously expressed his feelings on their situation, branding them as 'the two brave astronauts' who he claimed were 'virtually abandoned by the Biden administration'.
He then went on to ask Musk and SpaceX to 'go get' them.
In a Fox News interview hosted by Sean Hannity on Tuesday (18 February), Musk appeared alongside Trump where he spoke about the administration's plans to return the astronauts.
The SpaceX CEO said he was 'accelerating the return of the astronauts' after it was 'postponed to a ridiculous degree', with Trump adding: "They got left in space."
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The comments are thought to be a further swipe at Biden, with Musk claiming the reason the pair have spent so long on the ISS was 'for political reasons, which is not good'.
Musk said that the astronauts would be returning in around four weeks' time, with Trump adding: “They didn’t have the go-ahead with Biden. He was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space... He didn’t want the publicity. Can you believe it?”
Writing on his Truth Social platform at the end of January, Trump explained: "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.
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"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!!!"
Both Williams and Wilmore have spoken out about the claims that they were 'abandoned' on the ISS.
Speaking to CNN earlier this month, Wilmore said: “We don’t feel abandoned. We don’t feel stuck. We don’t feel stranded. I understand why others may think that. We come prepared. We come committed.”
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Meanwhile, in a previous interview with CBS, Williams added: “I don’t think those words are quite accurate…We are part of something bigger than ourselves, we are part of the International Space Station. So no, we don’t feel abandoned, we feel like we are part of the team and that’s a huge honor.”
Tyla has reached out to NASA for comment.
Lucy Devine