Elon Musk has found himself in a heated dispute with a Danish astronaut over claims about two American astronauts being left stranded on the International Space Station by President Joe Biden. Andreas “Andy” Mogensen, a European Space Agency astronaut who has flown to the ISS twice, accused Musk of lying when he claimed that NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were abandoned for “political reasons.”
Musk had made this claim in a Fox News interview with Donald Trump, sparking criticism from Mogensen. The SpaceX CEO responded by calling Mogensen “fully retarded,” but later said that SpaceX could have brought the astronauts back several months ago if they wanted to.
However, NASA officials have stated that Wilmore and Williams will indeed be returning on the upcoming Crew-9 mission’s spaceship, which launched in September with a crew of two. The voyage home was initially scheduled for February, but delays by SpaceX pushed it back to March.
Musk has not revealed any details about an alternate rescue plan that could have been executed sooner. Mogensen, who flew onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule during a 2023 mission to the ISS, defended Musk’s claim, stating that Wilmore and Williams are still returning on the planned Crew-9 mission.
The row highlights the complexities of space travel and communication between government agencies and private companies like SpaceX.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/21/elon-musk-butch-wilmore-suni-williams-nasa-astronaut-iss-claims-biden