NASA previously planned to return Wilmore and Williams as part of a crew returning in late March, using SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft that has been at the ISS for months.

The founder of SpaceX said President Trump had asked his company to return two astronauts aboard the space station to Earth “as soon as possible.” NASA said it would do that “as soon as practical.”

President Trump said Tuesday that he “asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space.” “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to

NASA on Tuesday swapped out the astronaut capsule it plans to use for an upcoming routine flight to the International Space Station over SpaceX production delays, a scheduling move that allows for a slightly earlier return for the two astronauts who have been on the station far longer than expected.