NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for over eight months, refuted allegations by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. They deny being intentionally left in orbit due to political motives as their March 2025 return date draws near.
Wilmore and Williams were originally slated for an eight-day mission, having arrived at the ISS in June 2024 via Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, technical malfunctions with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters and valve systems, coupled with helium leaks, compelled NASA to return the capsule to Earth without the crew in September 2024. By February 2025, their mission had extended to 258 days, more than 30 times their planned duration.
“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,” Wilmore stated in a video call with CNN’s Anderson Cooper from the ISS. “I understand why others may think that.” Williams concurred, “It was a little bit longer stay than we had expected, but we’ve made the most of it.” They have kept busy with research and maintenance tasks during their prolonged mission.
The debate ignited when Musk, in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity featuring Trump, asserted that “They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.” He suggested the astronauts had been stranded in orbit unnecessarily long, terming the delay as excessive. Trump went a step further, implying a deliberate move to keep them in space, driven by a desire to dodge negative publicity. This discussion took place during an interview largely focused on Musk’s initiatives to reduce government spending through his Department of Government Efficiency.
NASA officials outlined a thorough rescue strategy, noting SpaceX’s September launch of a Crew-9 Dragon capsule with a smaller crew to make room for Wilmore and Williams’ eventual return. In December, the space agency declared that the astronauts would return to Earth in mid-March 2025, following the arrival of their replacements on the Crew-10 mission.
During their extended mission, the astronauts adhered to a demanding work schedule. Williams set a new record for the most spacewalk time by a female astronaut, while both crew members engaged in crucial maintenance operations. On January 30, they completed their first joint spacewalk, performing exterior maintenance 260 miles above Spain. This operation involved removing a faulty antenna and conducting a thorough cleaning of the station’s exterior surface in search of potential microbial growth that might have seeped through station vents. “Here we go,” Wilmore said, as he emerged 260 miles above Spain.
The initial delay originated from several technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. NASA engineers decided these problems necessitated returning the vehicle back without a crew for safety reasons. This crew-less return allowed NASA and Boeing to continue collecting testing data on Starliner during its subsequent flight home. Throughout the extended mission, the ISS sustained normal operations with routine resupply missions, ensuring sufficient provisions for the crew.
In December 2024, NASA provided a detailed timeline for the crew’s return, announcing that the Crew-10 mission would not be launched until at least mid-March 2025. This schedule implied that Wilmore and Williams would have been in orbit for a minimum of nine months. Both astronauts, retired Navy captains, had prior experience with spacewalks during earlier ISS stays. The space agency stressed that while the mission extension was unforeseen, it posed no risk to the astronauts, as the ISS maintains ample supplies and frequent resupply missions to ensure all crew needs are met.
The controversy deepened when Musk told Hannity that the astronauts were being brought back earlier at the president’s request. However, the timeline he provided—about four weeks—was the same one NASA had already announced months earlier, indicating that nothing had been expedited. He reassured viewers that SpaceX had safely returned astronauts from the ISS many times before and would take all precautions to ensure a smooth journey home. NASA officials later confirmed there were no changes to the schedule, emphasizing that the timing was based purely on technical and safety factors, not politics.
Throughout their stay, the astronauts maintained high spirits, with Williams indicating that they were “having a great time” and that “living in space is super fun.”