Did Elon Musk Offer To Bring Astronauts Back From Space? Sunita Williams's Starliner Colleague Says...

Last Updated:March 06, 2025, 10:08 IST

Elon Musk had earlier claimed that the Biden administration had turned down his offer to rescue the stranded astronauts back home "for political reasons".

Butch Wilmore (L) and Sunita Williams (R) addressing a news conference. (AP)

One of the NASA astronauts stranded at the Space Station (ISS) for nine months has seemingly confirmed tech billionaire Elon Musk’s claims that former US President Joe Biden had rejected his offer to bring the astronauts back home.

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were expected to be gone just a week or so when they launched last June aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but technical issues forced their extended stay at the space station. They are expected to return via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon later this month.

During an orbital news conference, Wilmore and Williams addressed questions about political involvement in their space mission. When asked about whether Elon Musk’s claims that the Biden administration refused his offer to help return the two astronauts home “for political reasons", Wilmore said, “I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says is absolutely factual".

However, Wilmore said the astronauts did not have any information on the offer made by Musk. “We have no information on that, though whatsoever. What was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that processes went. That’s information that we simply don’t have," he said.

What Did Elon Musk Say?

US President Donald Trump and his close ally Elon Musk had previously said that the two NASA astronauts were left stranded at the ISS by the previous Joe Biden administration for “political reasons".

In an exclusive interview with Fox News last month, Trump said, “Joe Biden was going to leave stranded NASA astronauts, including Sunita Williams, in space, to which, Elon Musk was quick to add that the reason was “political".

“At the President’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed, kind of, to a ridiculous degree," Elon Musk said on being asked about the return of the two astronauts. “Yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good."

Taking to X, Musk said, “The real issue is that they did not want positive press for someone who supported Trump. That’s it. End of story."

Following Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s January claims that the two astronauts were left high and dry by the prior administration, the duo had said that they “were not stranded, nor have been abandoned" at the ISS.

In January, Musk said Trump had asked SpaceX to step in to rescue them. “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," Musk wrote in an X post.

‘Politics Played No Role’ In Extended Stay: Wilmore

In an earlier question, Wilmore said politics did not play any role in the crew’s extended stay in space. “I can tell you at the outset, all of us have the utmost respect for Mr Musk and obviously, respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump," he said.

“The words they’ve said, politics, I mean, that’s part of life. We understand that. And there’s an important reason why we have a political system and the political system that we do have, and we’re behind it 100%," he added. “From my standpoint, politics is not playing into this at all. We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short. That’s what we do in human space flight."

In another recent post on X, Musk said the station should be brought down earlier: “It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars." Williams disagreed with the view, saying, “We’re actually in our prime right now".

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

News world Did Elon Musk Offer To Bring Astronauts Back From Space? Sunita Williams's Starliner Colleague Says...