During his visit to Peru for the APEC summit, US President Joe Biden cracked a lighthearted joke about being sent to space to rescue two veteran NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly seven months.
Astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission with Boeing’s Starliner, but technical issues have kept them in space much longer than expected. Their return is now slated for February, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon will finally bring them back to Earth.
Speaking with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte at the summit, Biden couldn’t resist making a joke about the ongoing space drama.
After noticing NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in the crowd, the President remarked on how his wife might soon have him sent to space whenever he misbehaves. “Every time my wife thinks I’m getting out of hand, she says, ‘I’m going to call (Nelson) and have him send you to space,’” Biden said with a grin.
“And I’m a little concerned he may want to send me to space because we got to get some folks back home!”
Boluarte responded with a polite chuckle to Biden’s playful comment, which served as a brief moment of levity during the economic discussions at the summit.
As Biden’s quip about space rescue made headlines, the focus on Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s extended stay on the ISS brought attention to the increasingly complicated nature of long-term space missions.
The astronauts have been stuck on the ISS far beyond their original schedule due to an issue with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which returned to Earth without them.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s return is now expected in February 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
In addition to his humorous remarks, Biden acknowledged Peru’s recent space-related achievements. He praised the country for signing the US-led Artemis Accords, a set of space exploration standards, and securing a research rocket agreement with the United States. This demonstrates the growing cooperation between the US and South American countries in the field of space exploration.
Biden’s visit to South America came just a day after his meeting with former President Donald Trump at the White House, where they discussed critical global issues such as the ongoing conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine.
