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By Theo Burman
Live News Reporter
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President Donald Trump has called on Elon Musk to rescue two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who he claims were "virtually abandoned" at the International Space Station (ISS) by former President Joe Biden's administration.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and Biden's representatives via email for comment.
Williams and Wilmore's mission was originally planned to last only a few days, but is now set to stretch to more than eight months. A series of technical failures, including thruster malfunctions and a helium leak, with the Boeing Starliner crew capsule that took them to space, meant they were unable to make a return journey.
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The Claim
The two astronauts arrived at the ISS in June 2024 aboard the Starliner for what was originally planned as an eight-day test flight. NASA has since arranged for them to return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule that is docked at the station.
Trump announced the decision via Truth Social on Tuesday, writing: "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. Good luck Elon!!!"
Additionally on the same day, Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter): "The @POTUS has asked SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the Space Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
The Facts
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Plans to recover the two astronauts were already in place when Trump was sworn into office. Under the Biden administration, NASA outlined plans to bring them home in December 2024, proposing the use of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which Trump and Musk would later say they were going to use.
The return journey of Williams and Wilmore was first reported in August 2024, several months before Trump's election victory. Steve Stich, the manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, told NPR that the astronauts were scheduled for a SpaceX flight home, describing it as "the easiest and the best option."
In a statement in December, when Biden was still president, NASA said: "The International Space Station recently received two resupply flights in November and is well-stocked with everything the crew needs, including food, water, clothing, and oxygen. The resupply spacecraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform."
Additionally, NASA has remained in constant communication with Wilmore and Williams since June, coordinating recovery efforts with them throughout the extended mission.
This means that the return journey that Trump asked Musk to execute was already organized under the Biden administration.
The Ruling
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False.
President Donald Trump's claim that the Biden administration had "abandoned" Williams and Wilmore on the ISS is contradicted by the continuous planning and communication between NASA and the astronauts under the Biden administration.
A return operation was already planned months before Trump took office in January, with NASA organizing the recovery in December 2024 for February, though it was later delayed to March this year.
Williams and Wilmore were already scheduled to return from the ISS on a SpaceX flight before Trump "asked" Musk to get them back.
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