NASA has confirmed its approach to bringing home two US astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) "as soon as practical," despite US President Donald Trump suggesting he would expedite the process through direct talks with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

The vice president leading Boeing's Starliner spacecraft unit, Mark Nappi, has left his role in the program and been replaced by the company's International Space Station program manager, John Mulholland,

Elon Musk used his new government efficiency role to stop by the operations of his competitor Boeing to look into the long-delayed efforts to renovate two 747 jets into the next generation of Air Force One jets,

Late Tuesday afternoon, Elon Musk put out a message on X saying that President Donald Trump had asked him to return the two Boeing Starliner astronauts who have been on the space

A spokesperson with NASA, which oversees SpaceX’s flights to the ISS, said “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.”

President Donald Trump struck a deal for the replacement aircraft during his first term. Boeing is working with Trump advisor Elon Musk on ways to deliver delayed, overbudget Air Force One replacements sooner, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Tuesday.

Air Force None After leaving the federal government's operations in shambles and causing major confusion over healthcare funding, SpaceX CEO and White House advisor Elon Musk is prioritizing the delivery of a pair of luxurious Boeing 747s so he and president Donald Trump can jet around in style.

"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.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station to swab the orbiting lab for evidence of microorganisms.

Boeing hasn't been having the best of luck this year. Two Astronauts stuck in space because of mechanical failures on a Boeing spacecraft, only adds to the pile of blunders. But how did this happen? and what are the astronauts going to do now?

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