NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore have finally returned to Earth following their extended stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The duo landed safely in SpaceX's spacecraft at around 3:27 am (IST). After their return, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk praised the teams of NASA and SpaceX for their contributions to the mission in bringing the stranded astronauts back. He also extended his gratitude to US President Donald Trump for facilitating their return by making the issue the top priority of his presidency.
Taking to X, Musk said, "Congratulations to the @SpaceX and @NASA teams for another safe astronaut return! Thank you to @POTUS for prioritising this mission!"
Importantly, Musk made a shocking claim in an interview with Fox News in which he said that the Biden administration reportedly denied SpaceX's offer to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore due to "political reasons."
"We definitely offered to return the astronauts earlier. There's no question about that", said Musk as he emphasised that SpaceX could have brought them back after a few months at most, and the offer was also made to Joe Biden, Trump's predecessor. However, it got rejected due to "political reasons."
A report claims that Trump personally requested Musk to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore back. He termed the delay in bringing them back as "terrible", alleging that the Biden administration kept them stranded for a prolonged time.
Moreover, Sunita Williams' return has garnered attention from India as well, with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi joining celebrities, politicians and others on Wednesday to celebrate the return of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams to Earth after nine months, terming her an inspiration for generations to come and lauding her determination.
NASA astronauts Williams, Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov returned early Wednesday on board SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which splashed down in the sea off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.
For Williams and Willmore, test pilots for Boeing's new Starliner capsule, an eight-day mission stretched to more than nine months as a series of helium leaks and thruster failures deemed their spacecraft unsafe. The spacecraft returned without them in September.
(With agency inputs)