In a Truth Social post, Trump said, “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.”
“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!!!” the 78-year-old added.
Williams and Wilmore’s mission was originally meant to last just over a week to ten days. But, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they took off in reported technical issues, compelling NASA to delay their return to the Earth.
On Tuesday, Musk said that the US President had asked him to bring home the two astronauts as soon as possible.
“The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space Station as soon as possible. We will do so,” he posted on X.
Williams and Wilmore’s return mission with a SpaceX craft was planned for February before it was pushed to late March.
“NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 now is targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch four crew members to the International Space Station,” NASA said in mid-December.
As part of this mission, NASA will send four crew members — Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The four crew members were training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the space agency said in December.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
