President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has tasked his new Department of Government Efficiency head, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with bringing home two astronauts who he said have been “abandoned” by the Biden administration.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been in space for the last 8 months and Trump blasted the former president for not acting sooner.
“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. 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!!!” posted Trump.
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Musk also took to social media to express his disdain and vowed to bring them home “as soon as possible.”
“The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @SpaceStation as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk posted via X Tuesday evening. “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”
Wilmore and Williams have been in space since June. The mission was initially only meant to be a week long.
The NASA pilots arrived at the International Space Station on a Starliner, but issues with the capsule developed in the form of helium leaks and thruster problems making it too risky for people to utilize the ship to travel back to Earth.
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A plan was in place to rescue the two on a SpaceX capsule arriving back on Earth by February, but it was delayed.
Musk has delayed the launch of replacement astronauts at this time. Once the replacement astronauts reach the space station, the pair can go home.