Politics
NASA Credits Trump With Bringing Stranded Astronauts Home: ‘Would Not Have Happened’
NASA officials are crediting President Donald Trump for playing a crucial role in the safe return of two American astronauts who were stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months. The rescue mission, which brought Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams back to Earth on March 18, was hailed as a major victory for the Trump administration and its renewed focus on space exploration.
NASA spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said that the astronauts’ return would not have happened without Trump’s direct involvement, calling it a “huge win” for his administration. She stressed the importance of Trump’s leadership in ensuring that the astronauts were not abandoned in orbit.
“This is a huge win for the Trump administration. And it would not have happened without President Trump’s intervention. Up next on the docket, to continue implementing President Trump’s ambitious space agenda that he touted in his inaugural address, is to confirm his nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman,” Stevens said to Fox News.
The astronauts’ prolonged stay on the ISS stemmed from technical failures with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which suffered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, making it unsafe for their return. NASA ultimately opted for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to carry out the rescue.
JSC2013-E-091441 (31 Oct. 2013) — NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, Expedition 41 flight engineer and Expedition 42 commander, attired in a training version of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, is about to start a spacewalk training session in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
Trump stated that he played a role in hastening their return, explaining that he instructed SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to prioritize the mission, which he believed was neglected under the Biden administration. Wilmore and Williams’ extended mission had become a political flashpoint, with Trump accusing the previous Biden administration of failing to act swiftly due to fears of political embarrassment over the Starliner failures.
Trump has since vowed to honor the astronauts, stating his intention to host them at the White House once they have recovered. He also highlighted the financial sacrifices astronauts make, offering to personally cover their additional compensation given that they only receive a $5 daily incidental allowance for extended missions.
Stevens, meanwhile, stressed that Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, is the right person to carry forward the administration’s ambitious plans for space exploration.
“President Trump was also once considered an outsider, and the American people have put him back into office, just showing how much they appreciate the business side that he brings to the table. And Mr. Isaacman also has a background as an entrepreneur of an extremely successful business,” Stevens explained.
Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and experienced astronaut, was the first civilian to perform a human spacewalk. He has also been recognized for his extensive humanitarian work with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. According to Stevens, his appointment would align with Trump’s vision of putting America first in space.
“I think that these governors are cognizant that the result of the November election was a mandate from the American people to implement change and to bring about change,” Stevens went on to say. “And President Trump has been bringing about that change since day one.”
“The next step here is to confirm Jared Isaacman expeditiously, so that we can get to work on the president’s ambitious space agenda, as he touted in his inaugural address.”
Trump’s space agenda aims to advance human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, with renewed emphasis on lunar missions and a long-term goal of reaching Mars. Stevens made it clear that time is of the essence.
“We were going to go to the moon and to Mars and beyond, and we have less than four years at this point to get through that considerably ambitious agenda,” Stevens added. “And we need to implement his leadership here at NASA in order to get the ball rolling there. So I think that’s the next step towards being America First in Space.”
