DOGE leader Elon Musk opens up about his work in space on ‘Kudlow.’
Elon Musk and SpaceX are looking to bring Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, the pair of U.S. astronauts that have been in space much longer than NASA originally planned, back to Earth soon.
Musk told FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow earlier in the week that his aerospace company is “bringing them back in a few weeks.”
In collaboration with NASA, SpaceX is scheduled Wednesday evening to launch its Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from the U.S. space agency’s Kennedy Space Center for the Crew-10 Mission bound for the International Space Station orbiting some 250 miles above Earth.
Elon Musk and SpaceX are looking to bring Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams, the pair of U.S. astronauts that have been in space much longer than NASA originally planned, back to Earth soon. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)
That mission, transporting a four-person crew meant to replace NASA’s Crew-9 currently on the ISS, is expected to usher in Wilmore and Williams’ long-awaited homecoming.
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The two astronauts have spent over nine months on the International Space Station since arriving there June 6 last year. NASA had originally planned for Wilmore and Williams’ time at the ISS to only last about a week.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent over nine months on the International Space Station since arriving there June 6 last year. NASA had originally planned for their time at the ISS to only last about a week. (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft had transported the pair of astronauts from Earth to the ISS. However, it ended up coming back to Earth unmanned in September.
In August, when NASA announced the spacecraft would return without Wilmore and Williams onboard, the space agency said the spacecraft’s unmanned return would let it and Boeing “continue to gather testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew” after Starliner had “helium leaks” and “issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters” while docking with the ISS in June.
The two astronauts became part of the Expedition 71/72 crews, with NASA saying at the time that it was aiming to return them to Earth alongside two members of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission in early 2025.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksanr Gorbunov, the Crew-9 members, arrived at the ISS in late September.
Hague, Wilmore and Williams have done 900-plus hours of research during their time on the ISS, NASA said late last week.
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If the SpaceX Crew-10 launch takes off as scheduled Wednesday evening, its crew is supposed to get to the ISS the following morning, according to the space…
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