Musk posted a video with thanks from NASA astronauts stuck on the ISS.
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS), have prepared a new video message. It was answered by SpaceX founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk.
In a video posted online, the astronauts expressed gratitude to the new administration of US President Donald Trump for their assistance in returning to Earth.
"Let me say that we all have great respect and admiration for both Elon Musk and Donald Trump. We appreciate everything they do for us and their efforts to ensure that people can go into space," Wilmore said in the video.
Williams agreed with Wilmore's statement. She also stated that they hope to return home soon.
Musk posted the astronauts' appeal on his page on the social network X. He accompanied the new post with emoticons in the form of hearts and rockets.
It's not the first time astronauts stuck on the ISS have spoken out about US politics
This is not the first time astronauts have spoken out about political events, especially in the United States. Recently, Barry Wilmore commented on Musk and Trump's statements that the Starliner crew was "stuck" on the ISS for political reasons.
At the same time, Wilmore noticed that astronauts in low-Earth orbit are often not privy to all the subtleties and processes that politicians know about. "I'm sure they have some problems they're dealing with, information they have that we're not privy to. So when I think about your question, it's a part of life, we agree with that," the astronaut said.
As ArsTechnica pointed out, astronauts now have great respect for both politicians. It was about Trump and Musk. "We appreciate them. We appreciate everything they do for us, for space flight, for our country," Wilmore said.
Musk accused the Biden administration of not returning astronauts to Earth.
In March, Elon Musk said that astronauts stuck on the ISS could have returned to Earth six months ago. "SpaceX could send another Dragon," he said.
At the same time, the American billionaire added that then the administration of former US President Joe Biden refused to grant permission for this. According to Musk, now the new president, Donald Trump, has ordered otherwise — he insisted on Williams and Wilmore returning home as soon as possible.
On June 5, 2024, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft with astronauts Wilmore and Williams launched to the ISS. On September 7, it undocked from the station in unmanned mode. The astronauts, as it was clarified later, had already spent about eight months at the station instead of several weeks. At the same time, they were supposed to return to Earth on the Starliner, but due to numerous problems with the ship, NASA decided to send them back on the SpaceX Crew Dragon ship.
Back in September 2024, Roscosmos offered to help NASA. At the same time, the general director of the state corporation, Yuri Borisov, recalled that in December 2022, the American side offered assistance to the Russian team amid the incident with the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. Meanwhile, investigations into Starliner's problems are still ongoing in the United States.
