President Trump has requested SpaceX to bring back two Starliner astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) two weeks earlier than planned, claiming they were 'virtually abandoned' by the Biden administration. This controversial move involves swapping a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the current one slated for the return, potentially delaying a private mission to the ISS.
The Starliner saga has been ongoing for nearly five months, but newly inaugurated President Donald Trump has decided to try to swoop in for a last-minute rescue operation. NASA will reportedly swap one SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for another to return the two Starliner astronauts a little earlier than expected, complying with Trump’s boisterous attempt to save the crew that doesn’t need saving.
NASA is reportedly working on bringing back two astronauts from the International Space Station on March 19, around two weeks earlier than the agency’s current plan, an anonymous sourceArs Technica. This comes shortly after President Trump announced that he had asked SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk to “go get the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration,” heon Truth Social.
NASA launched its Crew-9 mission in September 2024 with two astronauts instead of four. The two empty seats were reserved for Williams and Wilmore, who were set to return alongside the Crew-9 crew in February, but there were more troubles ahead. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 was originally set for liftoff in February, but technical issues with the vehicle delayed its launch and the subsequent crew handover.
NASA now believes the Dragon capsule won’t be ready to launch to the ISS until late April, so the agency has decided to swap spacecraft, according to Ars Technica. NASA has reportedly asked SpaceX to launch the Crew-10 mission on board its Dragon C210 vehicle no earlier than March 12. This particular SpaceX vehicle, calledin the spring. If this new plan goes into effect, the Starliner astronauts may return home on March 19 after having spent 286 days in space..
A NASA satellite that suddenly reappeared after going silent gets credit for the remarkable discovery—a pair of temporary radiation belts between the Van Allen Belts.
STARLINER SPACEX NASA INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS
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