Trump and Elon Musk Say They're Working to Get Astronauts Stuck on Space Station, but NASA Says It Already Has a Plan

Mar. 15, 2025

President-elect Donald Trump listens to Elon Musk as he arrives to watch SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship lift off for a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Nov. 19, 2024.Photo:Brandon Bell/Pool via AP

Brandon Bell/Pool via AP

Elon MusksaysDonald Trumphas asked SpaceX to rescue two astronauts who have been in space for more than seven months — even though NASA has said there’s a plan in place.

In apost on Xshared Tuesday, Jan. 28, Musk claimed Trump had made a request that SpaceX bring home the “stranded” astronauts — Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — “as soon as possible.”

The SpaceX CEO, 53, vowed to fulfill the request and then suggested it was “terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

“They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station,” the president added. “Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”

However, NASA has already been working with SpaceX for months on a project to bring the astronauts back to Earth.

In December,NASAsaid it was working with SpaceX to “complete processing” on the Dragon spacecraft that will be sent to fetch the astronauts which will happen “no earlier than late March,” according to the space agency.

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, right, and Suni Williams, left, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test launch, on June 5, 2024.MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty

MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty

Williams and Wilmore originally entered space in June 2024 for what was supposed to be a weeklong test flight of a Boeing Starliner capsule.

But the astronauts’ return was delayed after their spacecraft experiencedmechanical issues. After weeks of troubleshooting, the spacecraft was sent back to Earthwithout them.

At the time, Wilmore said he and WIlliams were"absolutely not” let downupon learning they would be spending several more months in space.

Williams said there were “a lot of opinions” about how to proceed, but said experts were working hard to make the smartest decisions possible.

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“I think it was really impressive for our leadership and our management to take the time and listen to everybody’s opinion, and to really understand where all of that was going,” she explained.

source: people.com