Elon Musk has been caught up in an ugly online spat after an astronaut blasted his mission to return two stranded NASA astronauts as a ‘lie.’
The SpaceX founder vowed on Wednesday to return Butch Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, to Earth ‘within about four weeks’ as he hit out at the Biden administration for abandoning them in space in an interview with Sean Hannity.
‘They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good,’ Musk claimed in the interview, with Trump adding ‘[Biden] was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space.’
But Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who in 2023 piloted a mission for SpaceX, rebuked the claim.
‘What a lie,’ the 48-year-old European Space Agency astronaut wrote on X. ‘And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.’
Musk did not take well to the criticism, calling Mogensen ‘fully r*******.
‘SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.’
Still, Mogensen doubled down on his criticism of Musk’s claim.
Elon Musk has hit out at an astronaut who called his mission to return two stranded NASA astronauts a ‘lie’ in a vicious online back and forth
Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen rebuked Musk’s claim that former President Joe Biden left astronauts Butch Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, stranded
Musk did not take well to the criticism, calling Mogensen ‘fully r*******’
‘Elon I have long admired you and what you accomplished, especially at SpaceX and Tesla,’ he wrote back, taking the high ground.
‘You know as well as I do that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September.
‘Even now, you are not sending up a rescue ship to bring them home. They are returning on the Dragon capsule and that has been on [the International Space Station] since last September.’
Williams and Wilmore left Earth inside Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the International Space Station in early June with plans of an eight-day stay on the ship.
But after an issue was identified with their capsule, they were stranded.
After weeks of tests, NASA ultimately decided that Starliner was not safe enough to carry humans back to Earth and in September, the doomed spacecraft was sent home empty.
By September, SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon Capsule in an effort to rescue the pair. It successfully arrived at the space station, but has not yet been cleared to attempt to return to Earth with them on board.
President Donald Trump and Musk have since blamed the Biden administration for Wilmore and Williams extended stay.
Mogensen doubled down on his arguments despite Musk’s insult
He noted that Wilmore and Williams are returning on the Crew-9, which he said has been the plan since September
After taking office, Trump wrote that he and Musk had a plan to bring the duo home sooner than anticipated in a TruthSocial post.
‘I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to ‘go get’ the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration,’ Trump wrote on January 28.
‘They have been waiting many months on [the] Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!’
NASA then announced that the pair will return home on March 19, about two weeks earlier than the previous schedule, after launching the incoming crew on March 12.
Williams and Wilmore left Earth inside Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the International Space Station in early June with plans of an eight-day stay on the ship
Despite the setbacks, Wilmore and Williams have denied that they feel abandoned
Despite the setbacks, Wilmore and Williams have denied that they feel abandoned.
‘We don’t feel abandoned. We don’t feel stuck. We don’t feel stranded,’ Wilmore told CNN. ‘I understand why others may think that. We come prepared.
Still, the astronauts admitted they needed to come home, but noted that keeping the normal cycle of astronauts on the ISS going is critical.
This handover period requires a new crew to take over the ISS from the previous crew.
Williams and Wilmore’s relief crew have been named as NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The incoming crew will meet with Williams and Wilmore for a brief about ongoing scientific and maintenance projects that they will be taking over.
