U.S. President Donald Trump urged SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday to deliver dwelling two NASA astronauts who’ve been caught on the International Space Station (ISS) since final June.
In a submit on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed the astronauts, Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, had been “virtually abandoned in space by the Biden administration” and had been ready “for many months.”
“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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!!!”
Two stranded astronauts had been already scheduled to fly again on a SpaceX capsule in March.
Musk posted on X that Trump had requested SpaceX to deliver astronauts dwelling “as soon as possible.”
“We will do so,” he added.
His demand that SpaceX retrieve veteran NASA astronauts, who’ve been assigned a SpaceX journey dwelling since August, was an uncommon intervention by a U.S. president into NASA’s operations that caught many company officers without warning, two officers stated, based on a Reuters report.
NASA, SpaceX and the White House didn’t instantly touch upon the studies.
Wilmore and Williams flew Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the ISS final summer time for an eight-day take a look at mission that as a substitute has lasted almost a 12 months due to issues with the craft’s propulsion system.
During President Joe Biden’s administration in August, NASA deemed Starliner too dangerous to return to Earth and tapped SpaceX to return them on a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
NASA reportedly deliberate for his or her return by February however revised the timeline in December, with a brand new goal for his or her return set for late March, alongside two different astronauts at the moment aboard the ISS.
Their prolonged keep adopted a malfunction in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which delayed their return. Despite the prolonged mission, NASA assures that the astronauts are in good well being and that their time in orbit stays inside acceptable limits.
Returning to the White House, Trump has appointed Musk to steer the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a fee created on the president’s first day in workplace, aiming to eradicate wasteful spending.
Source: www.dailysabah.com