Trump, Musk, and the Stranded NASA Astronauts – The Space Controversy That Won’t End

When NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule back in June 2024, they were expecting a short mission — just eight days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But a series of technical failures changed everything.

Soon after docking, the Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, leading NASA to declare it unsafe for the return journey. Instead of returning home, Williams and Wilmore have remained in space for over nine months, making their mission one of the longest unintended space stays in history.

Now, after months of uncertainty, NASA has announced that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will bring them home on 16 March 2025, but not before their prolonged stay became the centre of a heated political battle.

Trump’s Viral Remarks: “We’re Coming to Get You”

The situation has sparked outrage from former President Donald Trump, who blamed the Biden administration for failing to bring the astronauts home sooner. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said, “We love you, and we’re coming up to get you.” Looking up as if addressing the astronauts directly, he continued: “You shouldn’t have been up there for so long. The most incompetent president in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this president won’t let it happen.”

But it wasn’t just the delay that caught Trump’s attention. He also made a bizarre comment about Williams’ hair, referencing her signature zero-gravity hairstyle that floats wildly in space. “And I see the woman with the wild hair — solid head of hair she’s got, no kidding. No games with her hair.”

Musk vs. Biden: Did SpaceX Offer an Earlier Rescue?

Trump wasn’t the only one wading into the controversy. Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has accused the Biden administration of deliberately keeping the astronauts in space by rejecting an offer from SpaceX to bring them back months ago.

In a post on X, Musk claimed: “SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused.”

But NASA officials and the astronauts themselves have denied any knowledge of such an offer. Wilmore, speaking from the ISS, dismissed the claims: “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.”

Former NASA administrator Bill Nelson also refuted Musk’s statement, saying: “It certainly did not come to my attention. There was no discussion of that whatsoever. Maybe he sent a message to some lower-level person.”

Ultimately, NASA made the decision to wait for the next scheduled SpaceX mission rather than launch an additional Dragon capsule specifically for the rescue. Budget constraints and mission planning logistics played a key role in the decision, Nelson explained: “We didn’t have the money to bring an additional Dragon to go up just for them, but we had another rotation coming up fairly soon.”

Final Countdown – NASA Astronauts Set to Return

Now, after an unexpected nine-month stay, stranded astronauts Williams and Wilmore are finally set to return home on 16 March 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

Despite the political spectacle surrounding their mission, the NASA astronauts themselves have remained focused on their work. Williams, who set a new spacewalking record for women, emphasised that they never felt abandoned and were prepared for changes in their mission timeline.

As the return date nears, one thing is certain; this mission will be remembered not only for its technical challenges but also for the political drama that unfolded back on Earth.