"NASA and SpaceX are expeditiously working to safely return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical, while also preparing for the launch of Crew-10 to complete a handover between expeditions," Cheryl Warner, NASA's news chief at the agency's headquarters, said in a statement to reporters.

A NASA spacecraft has returned asteroid samples that hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world.

Last year, 2024, was the warmest year on record for the planet, easily breaking the previous record set just a year earlier.

Despite the statement from President Trump, NASA had already scheduled the astronauts' return for late March or April.

"We're really grateful for the space community and their care at this challenging time — but exploration continues, so we will be back."

President Donald Trump asked billionaire Elon Musk to “go get” two astronauts that have been aboard the International Space Station since June 2024, claiming the Biden administration had “virtually abandoned” them even though NASA has said for months it plans to bring them home soon.

After the first test flights in 2025, Lockheed Martin will transfer the plane to NASA. Then, after acoustic testing over California's Edwards Air Force Base and Armstrong Flight Research Center, NASA will fly the X-plane over select U.S. cities in 2026 and 2027.

BS4 may be anywhere between 17 and 40 feet across, and will approach at about twice the distance between the Earth and moon.

NASA appears to be retaining existing plans to return astronauts from the International Space Station after calls to bring them back “as soon as possible.”