Trump tasks SpaceX with rescuing 'stranded' NASA astronauts

President Donald Trump has called on Elon Musk to rescue two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station, with the pair blaming the Biden administration for leaving them 'stranded.'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 30, 2025 03:39

Donald Trump (L) and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, November 19, 2024. (photo credit: Brandon Bell/Pool via Reuters)

US President Donald Trump instructed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to rescue two NASA astronauts, who, in his words, have been “virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration," he wrote in a Tuesday post on the Truth Social platform.

According to the newspaper The Independent, the aforementioned astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, were sent on an eight-day mission to the International Space Station in June 2024.

However, their Boeing Starliner was compromised, and the pair have now been stuck for over eight months.

“I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late on Tuesday.

“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!!!”

The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, October 4, 2018. (credit: NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS)

Musk is up to the task

This task extends beyond Musk’s responsibility as head of the Department of Government Efficiency – currently tasked with cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget – and Musk publicly accepted even before Trump broadcast the request.

“The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible,” Musk wrote on X/Twitter. 

“We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long," he added.