Musk claims Biden left Williams, Wilmore in space for 'political reasons'

Donald Trump and his advisor Musk claimed that the previous Joe Biden administration was going to leave NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in space

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has accused former US president Joe Biden's administration of leaving two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, stuck at the International Space Station, and promised to bring them back to Earth “within about four weeks.”

 

This remark came when Elon Musk and President Donald Trump gave their first joint interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity.

 

When Hannity asked the President and his advisor Musk about the "two astronauts that I think were abandoned," Musk responded, "At the President's request, we - or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed, kind of, to a ridiculous degree."

 

"They got left in space," Trump said. 

 

Musk supported the President's claim and said, " Yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good."

 

When asked about SpaceX's mission to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back, Musk said, "Well, we don't want to be complacent, but we have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success."

One week mission extended to months

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June last year. The mission was originally scheduled for eight days, but due to some technical issues discovered with the Starliner capsule, their return was indefinitely postponed.

 

After analysing the spacecraft for several weeks, NASA and Boeing found it too risky for the astronauts to return to Earth. Resultantly, the mission has been extended to several months. 

 

Now, NASA is taking help from SpaceX to bring the astronauts back. In September 2024, SpaceX successfully docked a Crew Dragon capsule at the ISS, which is now ready to bring the astronauts home. 

 

However, NASA has rescheduled the return multiple times. Now, Musk's company is expected to bring the astronauts back to Earth by late March 2025.

Musk Calls Delays ‘Ridiculous’

Musk expressed his frustration with the multiple postponements. Expressing his dissatisfaction, Musk said,  “At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts.” 

 

Musk criticised the multiple delays and called them "postponed kind of to a ridiculous degree." Trump suggested that SpaceX did not have approval under Biden's administration. 

 

"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," Musk added.