Two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) have embarked on what may be their final spacewalk, as US President Donald Trump calls for a mission to 'go get' them.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to go on a space walk on Thursday morning, local time, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said in a blog post.
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams will spend about six-and-a-half hours outside the space station where they'll be tasked with removing radio communications hardware and searching for microbes.
NASA's blog post came on the same day Mr Trump said he asked Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX to bring the pair home.
Here's what he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social:
"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!!!"
But it's unclear whether this flight will happen before their scheduled departure in March.
How long have the astronauts been stranded?
Since June.
The pair travelled to the ISS in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5 last year for a mission that was only supposed to take eight days.
They've been living at the ISS for more than six months.
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore are healthy and have been busy with routine scientific research aboard the station, NASA said.
And they aren't the only astronauts at the space station — there are five others on board.
Why are they stranded?
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore were unable to return because of problems with the Starliner space craft's propulsion system.
Back in August — when Joe Biden was the US president — NASA deemed the Starliner too risky to bring the pair back to Earth.
Instead, it requested SpaceX return them on a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
That craft is already docked with the space station, having flown there for NASA's Crew-9 astronaut rotation mission in September.
When are they due to return?
March.
The SpaceX flight was supposed to depart in February.
But it was delayed until March because SpaceX needed more time "to complete processing" of a new Crew Dragon capsule that will replace theirs for the Crew-10 mission.
NASA has a delicately coordinated ISS schedule and an early return might leave the station's US contingent understaffed.
But it's unclear whether Mr Trump's request would mean NASA bringing Crew-9 back to Earth before the Crew-10 capsule arrives, or SpaceX launching Crew-10 earlier than planned.
A NASA spokesman did not immediately return requests for comment.
Why can't they come home early?
Returning Crew-9 to Earth before Crew-10's arrival would mean NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who flew to the ISS with a Russian crew in September, would be the only American aboard the station.
That would create a rare staffing imbalance that NASA has said complicated maintenance of the station's US components.
Starliner's development since 2019 has been a persistent challenge for Boeing, rife with engineering troubles and cost overruns.
However, some of Mr Trump's advisers have sought to blame Mr Biden for this in recent months, although the former president had no involvement in Starliner's development.
ABC with Reuters
