Wilmore and Williams Back on Earth After Unexpected Nine-Month Space Stay
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| President Donald Trump provided an update on the stranded NASA astronauts set to make their way back to Earth. - Image from: foxbusiness |
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he’s willing to cover overtime pay out of his own pocket for astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, who landed back on Earth this week after an unintended nine-month stint at the International Space Station (ISS). The duo had originally launched in June for what was planned as an eight-day mission, only to return 286 days later aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The comment came during an Oval Office chat with reporters, sparked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy. Doocy pointed out that Wilmore and Williams earned a $5 daily per diem for their extended time in orbit, totaling $1,430 each in extra pay. When asked about this overtime, Trump replied, “Nobody’s ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I’ll pay it out of my own pocket. Is that all? That’s not a lot for what they had to go through.”
The astronauts’ prolonged mission ended when a rescue team, launched via SpaceX, retrieved them. Trump praised Elon Musk—CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—for making the rescue possible. “Think if we don’t have him?” Trump mused. “If we don’t have Elon. They could be up there a long time. Who else is going to get them?” He also highlighted the physical toll of extended spaceflight, noting, “The body starts to deteriorate after a few months orbiting in space.”
The return was celebrated on Fox Business’ The Evening Edit, where panelists Ned Ryun and Tomi Lahren hailed the mission as a triumph. Lahren called it “American exceptionalism at its finest,” cheering the astronauts’ safe homecoming alongside Ryun. Video footage from SpaceX captured a lighthearted moment of dolphins swimming near the capsule after its splashdown off Florida’s coast on March 18, 2025, carrying Wilmore, Williams, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, and a Russian cosmonaut.
The rescue operation underscored SpaceX’s critical role, a point Trump emphasized in his gratitude toward Musk. The president’s offer to personally fund the astronauts’ overtime added a personal touch to the saga of their unexpected journey, which stretched far beyond its original scope.