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President Trump has announced that SpaceX will bring home two astronauts who have been stuck at the International Space Station for months.
Some shit you should know before you read: Last year, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore embarked on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s new “Starliner” spacecraft that was planned to last just 10 days. However, technical issues with Starliner, including thruster failures and helium leaks, raised safety concerns, leading NASA to determine that the spacecraft was not suitable for their return. As a result, the astronauts have remained on the ISS while NASA arranges an alternative way home. In August, NASA announced that Williams and Wilmore would return aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 capsule. Their stay has now stretched beyond seven months, with their return postponed to no earlier than late March 2025 due to scheduling adjustments and the need to launch SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission before Crew-9 departs.
What’s going on now: In an announcement on Truth Social, President Trump posted, “I have just asked Elon Musk and Space X 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 [the] Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe.” Elon Musk responded with a salute emoji on social media and said SpaceX would bring the astronauts home “as soon as possible.” He also criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the situation.
Despite these statements, NASA has clarified that Williams and Wilmore are not stranded and that their return has been carefully planned for months. NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, said, “In my view, they’re never stuck or stranded. They always had a way to depart the space station. And to me, when somebody is stranded, there’s a location where they cannot leave.”
This comes at a difficult time for Boeing, which has been struggling with major setbacks in both its space and commercial aviation divisions. Following Trump’s announcement, Boeing’s stock dropped 4%.
