President Trump on Tuesday announced that he has asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to “go get” two NASA astronauts who have been aboard the International Space Station since June awaiting a return trip to Earth.

Posts by President Trump and Elon Musk roiled the space community, raising the prospect of an earlier-than-planned return for the Starliner crew.

While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s situation is unusual, their return trip will be pretty routine, as they were already slated to fly home on a SpaceX capsule as part of a scheduled crew rotation.

US President Donald Trump has criticized the Biden administration for "abandoning" two NASA astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station.

President Donald Trump has accused the Biden administration of abandoning two astronauts currently on the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, have been stuck on the ISS since their Boeing Starliner capsule developed issues last summer.

The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @SpaceStation as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk said on his social media app, X, Tuesday evening.

Suni Williams steps outside the International Space Station for the first time since arriving in June on Boeing’s Starliner.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have spent seven months in space instead of the originally planned eight days US President Donald Trump ha

Two NASA astronauts who have been on the International Space Station since June 2024 are preparing for a spacewalk. A spacewalk, also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA), is when an astronaut leaves their spacecraft and works outside in space.

Sunita Williams along with her fellow astronaut Butch Willmore have been at the ISS since June last year. The pair had launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight,

If the weather cooperates, the Starship launch will follow the maiden flight of Jeff Bezos' already weather-delayed New Glenn rocket.

US President Donald Trump said he asked Elon Musk's and SpaceX to “go get” the two NASA astronauts, who have been “abandoned in space”, as soon as possible.