Produced by: Manoj Kumar
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore were supposed to return after eight days, but their mission has stretched to nine months due to delays.
Elon Musk claims the Biden administration rejected his offer to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home early for political reasons.
Donald Trump urged Elon Musk to “go get” the astronauts, leading to an earlier return date of March 19 or 20.
The astronauts’ original ride, Boeing’s Starliner, suffered major technical failures, forcing NASA to send it back to Earth uncrewed.
Elon Musk alleges that the Biden administration delayed the rescue to prevent Donald Trump from benefiting politically before the 2024 election.
Barry Wilmore backed Elon Musk’s claims, stating that what he said was “absolutely factual”, though he wasn’t privy to all the details.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson insisted that politics played no role in the delay, contradicting Elon Musk’s allegations.
The White House has not addressed accusations that they purposely postponed the return of Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore.
After months of uncertainty, SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission is now set to bring Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home this month.