Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Topics: Nasa, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Space
Britt Jones
Topics: Nasa, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Space
One of NASA's stranded astronauts has addressed a request made by Donald Trump to Elon Musk, and went on to reveal his own thoughts on the political matter.
Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024 after their Boeing Starliner craft experienced technical issues.
While the pair took refuge in the ISS while awaiting help to come home, their craft was picked up and returned to Earth without them.
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Having only initially meant to have been in space for eight days, the astronauts have lasted nearly a year there, living off rations and updating the public via media interviews.
However, while talks have been issues about returning the pair this month, one of the astronauts has agreed with a claim that President Donald Trump made about Elon Musk’s attempt to bring Williams and Wilmore back down to Earth via his SpaceX craft.
According to the US President, former President Joe Biden stalled the rescue mission by rejecting Musk’s help.
Posting on his own social media platform, Truth Social, on January 28, he wrote: "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!!!"
Before Trump’s post, Musk went on to share his own, citing the Biden Administration as being to blame for the pair being stranded for so long.
He wrote on X: "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."
Wilmore was subsequently asked about this issue on Tuesday, February 4, during an in-orbit press conference with colleague Williams, and he appeared to believe that the Biden Administration had some part to play in leaving the pair in space.
It was after one person asked about Musk’s claim that Biden stalled the rescue due to an unknown ‘political reason’.
While the astronaut previously denied that politics had anything to do with his and Williams’ rescue delay, he went on to state: “I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual…I believe him.”
This comes after Musk’s SpaceX company launched a Crew Dragon capsule, which aimed to rescue the pair in September, but after it had reached the Space Station, NASA stalled its return until March 19.
Musk told Fox News that Trump would have been made to ‘look good’ had he been able to safely rescue the pair on the President’s orders, which is why Biden ‘didn’t want the publicity’ in the run-up to the election.
While Wilmore admitted to believing Musk’s claims on this front, he went on to say that he and Williams ‘have no information on that, though, whatsoever’ which includes ‘what was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that process went’.
Williams added: “All of us have the utmost respect for Mr Musk, and obviously, respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump. We appreciate them. We appreciate all that they do for us, for human space flight, for our nation.”