Donald Trump explains why he hasn't invited Sunita Williams to White House yet
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth on Tuesday, after being stuck for nine months in space
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will visit the White House after they “get better”.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked when will the two astronauts visit the Oval Office.
“They have to get better. When you are up there (in space), you have no pull in your muscle and gravity. You can lift a thousand pounds like this,” the US President said.
Sunita Williams homecoming LIVE updates
“They have to get better. It will be a little tough for them. It's not that easy. They were up for a long time and when they do, they will come to the Oval Office,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the White House posted on X,"PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!"
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams return home
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams returned to Earth on Wednesday, after being stuck for nine months in space.
Wilmore and Williams ended up spending 286 days in space — 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched. They circled Earth 4,576 times and traveled 121 million miles (195 million kilometers) by the time of splashdown.
Both had lived on the orbiting lab before and knew the ropes, and brushed up on their station training before rocketing away. Williams became the station's commander three months into their stay and held the post until earlier this month, AP reported.
ALSO READ: How Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore survived for 9 months. What did they eat on NASA space station?
NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing after the shuttle programme ended, to have two competing US companies for transporting astronauts to and from the space station until it was abandoned in 2030 and steered to a fiery reentry.
By then, it will have been up there for more than three decades; the plan is to replace it with privately run stations so NASA can focus on moon and Mars expeditions.
(With AP inputs)
