[Image: NASA]
For the past month, the space industry has been in an absolute tizzy over what should have been a straightforward homecoming for two NASA astronauts. Instead, it’s turned into a political circus.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s brand-new Starliner on June 5, 2024, for what was supposed to be an eight-day test mission. Instead, helium leaks and thruster failures turned their ride into an extended stay at the International Space Station (ISS). Now, their return has become political fodder after former President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk claimed that the Biden administration intentionally delayed their trip home.
Trump and Musk took their grievances to FOX News in February, where they didn’t hold back.
“At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts, which was postponed to a ridiculous degree,” Musk declared. Trump piled on: “They got left in space.” Musk doubled down: “They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.”
Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen was having none of it.
“What a lie,” he posted on X, the social media platform Musk owns. “And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”
Musk, never one to let a slight go unanswered, clapped back with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer and eloquence of a goat:
“You are fully retarded. 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.”
NASA, for its part, stayed mostly silent for weeks. But finally, after a previously canceled press conference, two key officials—Ken Bowersox, Associate Administrator for Space Operations, and Steve Stich, head of the Commercial Crew Program—were wheeled out on a Friday evening teleconference to set the record straight, per WIRED.
So, did Musk really offer to bring the astronauts home, only for the Biden administration to reject it for political reasons? According to NASA, not quite.
Back in July 2023, NASA did, in fact, ask SpaceX to study options for bringing Wilmore and Williams back on a Crew Dragon. The space agency considered flying them home on the Crew 8 vehicle (which would’ve been an unprecedented six-person squeeze) or sending up an uncrewed Dragon to fetch them. However, money, logistics, and ISS staffing needs ruled those ideas out.
Instead, NASA decided that Wilmore and Williams would stay put and return with Crew 9. That plan was locked in well before any political drama erupted, according to Stich. “When we laid all that out, the best option was really the one that we’re embarking upon now.” Translation: Musk may have made an offer, but it didn’t factor into NASA’s final call.
And what about the claim that Trump personally ordered NASA to fast-track their return? Again, NASA says no.
The Crew 9 return was originally set for mid-February, but a battery issue on a brand-new Dragon capsule delayed the Crew 10 launch. That pushed everything back to late March or early April. Then, in January, NASA and SpaceX decided to swap capsules—using the previously flown Crew Dragon Endurance instead—which allowed them to move Crew 10’s launch up to March 12 and, in turn, get Wilmore and Williams home sooner.
Was political pressure a factor? Stich says absolutely not. “It really was driven by a lot of other factors, and we were looking at this before some of those statements were made by the President and Mr. Musk.”
Bowersox backed that up but acknowledged that presidents’ chatter didn’t go unnoticed. “I can verify that Steve has been talking about how we might need to juggle the flights and switch capsules a good month before there was any discussion outside of NASA, but the president’s interest sure added energy to the conversation.”
So, was there a delay? Yes, but it wasn’t political. Did Musk offer to help? Sure, but NASA didn’t take him up on it. Did Trump swoop in and command a rescue mission? Not exactly. Instead, NASA stuck to its standard decision-making process—while the Trump-Musk monster turned it into a political spectacle.
[Source: Wired]
