Stranded NASA Astronauts Confirm Elon Musk's Offer To Bring Them Home Was Denied By Biden White House
Nine months into what was supposed to be just an eight-day trip to the International Space Station, two stranded NASA astronauts are finally scheduled to return to Earth in just a couple of weeks. But it could have happened a lot sooner if the White House had accepted help from Elon Musk.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024. Because of some thruster issues and helium leaks, though, things didn't go as planned.
On Feb. 20, Musk posted on X that his company, SpaceX, could have brought Wilmore and Williams home months ago when Joe Biden was still in office.
"I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused," Musk wrote. "Return was pushed back for political reasons."
On Tuesday, the two stranded astronauts participated from orbit in a news conference with reporters, during which they confirmed Elon's claim.
"I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual," Wilmore said, according to a transcript of the press conference. "We have no information on that, though, whatsoever: what was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that process went. That's information that we simply don't have."
Astronauts Praise Elon Musk, President Donald Trump
Wilmore described politics as "a part of life," but explained that he and Williams never intended to become caught up in a political storm. There are things politicians don't understand about space exploration, he said, and there are things astronauts don't understand about politics.
"We understand that. And there's an important reason why we have a political system… and we're behind it 100 percent," Wilmore explained.
"We know what we've lived up here, the ins and outs, and the specifics that they may not be privy to. And I'm sure that they have some issues that they are dealing with, information that they have, that we are not privy to."
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams prepare for launch in June 2024.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
When asked directly, though, whether they believed politics had anything to do with their delayed return, Wilmore and Williams chose to remain neutral.
"From my standpoint, politics is not playing into this at all," Wilmore said. "From our standpoint, I think that they would agree, we came up prepared to stay long, even though we plan to stay short. That's what we do in human spaceflight. That's what your nation's human space flight program is all about, planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies."
The two, however, had nothing but nice things to say about Musk and President Trump.
"I can tell you at the outset, all of us have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously, respect and admiration for our President of the United States, Donald Trump," Wilmore said. "We appreciate them. We appreciate all that they do for us, for human space flight, for our nation."
Because they couldn't return home as originally planned, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams joined Crew 9 on the ISS. Once their replacements (Crew 10) arrive next week, they'll soon be cleared to return home.