Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX and NASA after the rescue of two astronauts stranded in space for nearly nine months.
"Thanks to the excellent work of the SpaceX team working with NASA, the astronauts are now safely home. And so congratulations to the SpaceX NASA teams on excellent work," Musk said in an exclusive interview on "Hannity" Tuesday.
The SpaceX founder also thanked former President Donald Trump. He called it a "huge note of appreciation" for prioritizing and expediting the return.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been on the International Space Station since June 2024. Their mission was supposed to last just one week after Boeing's first astronaut flight. But technical issues kept them in space, with NASA deeming the spacecraft unsafe for return.
Finally, Wilmore, Williams, Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov returned home. They splashed down off the Florida coast just before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The situation turned political for the Trump administration. Musk told Sean Hannity in February that Biden left the astronauts stranded "for political reasons."
When Trump took office, he immediately acted. He asked Musk to bring the astronauts home, accusing the Biden administration of "abandoning" them.
Trump slammed Biden for not acting sooner.
"I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!" Trump posted at the time.
At a post-landing press conference, NASA official Joel Montalbano was asked about the claims. He avoided the politics.
"Yeah, so I wasn't involved in any conversations with the previous administration," Montalbano said. "It was clear we had a request from the current administration, and the results you saw are what we saw today with the landing of Crew-9."
Hannity pressed Musk on the delays. Musk made it clear where he stood.
"We definitely offered to return the astronauts earlier. There's no question about that," Musk said.
"The astronauts were only supposed to be there for eight days, and they've been there for almost ten months. So, obviously, that doesn't make any sense. SpaceX could have brought the astronauts back after a few months at most, and we made that offer to the Biden administration. It was rejected for political reasons, and that's just a fact."