Space X is scheduled to launch its Crew-10 mission craft on Wednesday at 8 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to retrieve two astronauts who’ve been stuck on the International Space Station for nine months.
NASA said the exact return date is unclear but could be as soon as March 16.
Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams departed in Boeing’s Starliner capsule in June 2024 for what was supposed to be an eight-day stay at the ISS. However, a malfunction in the spacecraft during takeoff deemed it too risky for the astronauts to return. The Boeing Starliner returned to Earth without its crew in September 2024.
Wilmore and Williams will return on the Crew Dragon capsule, which has been on the ISS since September. The spacecraft was supposed to return then but was delayed until a subsequent launch.
Space X CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of delaying the astronauts’ return for political reasons, alleging that former President Joe Biden did not want to give Musk, one of Trump’s biggest supporters, credit for their return ahead of the 2024 election.
“There’s no way that they’re going to make anyone who’s supporting Trump look good,” Musk said on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “We could have brought them back way sooner.”
Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson denied knowing of any offer from Musk to retrieve the stranded astronauts.
“It certainly did not come to my attention,” Nelson told the Washington Post. “There was no discussion of that whatsoever. Maybe he sent a message to some lower-level person.”
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE STRANDED NASA ASTRONAUTS RETURNING TO EARTH AFTER NINE MONTHS IN SPACE
On March 6, Trump shared a message of support to the astronauts while also attacking the Biden administration for failing to retrieve the pair.
“We love you and we’re coming up to get you,” Trump said. “And you shouldn’t have been up there so long.”
