Elon Musk has been using his social media platform, X, to trade barbs with a European Space Agency astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station (ISS) after the astronaut took exception to Musk’s claims that former U.S. President Joe Biden left two Americans abandoned on the ISS on purpose.
The spat started on X Thursday and continued into Friday, with several other astronauts joining the fray after Danish astronaut Andreas “Andy” Mogensen called out Musk for peddling an unsubstantiated claim in a Fox News television interview on Tuesday.
When asked about astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight-day test flight on Boeing’s Starliner aircraft turned into an eight-month stay aboard the ISS after the Starliner ran into problems, Musk insinuated to Fox that the Biden administration left them in space longer than necessary.
FILE – This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
NASA via AP
“They were left up there for political reasons,” Musk, who owns SpaceX, said.
Mogensen, taking issue with the billionaire’s claim, posted: “What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”
Things quickly turned ugly, with Musk exploding into rage and called Mogensen an “idiot” and a derogatory slur.
“SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago,” Musk wrote. “I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.”
Musk did not elaborate on his alleged offer.
Mogensen quickly fired back, saying that while he’s admired Musk in the past, he wouldn’t stand for Musk’s misinformation.
“You know as well as I do, that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September,” he wrote, referring to NASA’s plan to fly Wilmore and Williams back to Earth with two current space station crew members.
“Even now, you are not sending up a rescue ship to bring them home. They are returning on the Dragon capsule that has been on ISS since last September.”
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Musk didn’t respond to Mogensen’s post, but three hours later he called for the end of the ISS.
“It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the [Space Station]. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility.”
“Let’s go to Mars,” he added.
On Friday, retired NASA astronaut Scott Kelly came to Mogensen’s defence.
“I was Commander of the @ISS when Andy, @Astro_Andreas flew his first space mission. He is one of the most competent, trustworthy, and honest people I’ve ever met. This rhetoric is beyond the pale but, sadly, not surprising. He does not deserve this kind of disrespect,” Kelly shared on X.
Musk proceeded to double down, calling Mogensen an “idiot” again and taking a jab at Kelly’s twin brother, who happens to be an Arizona senator.
“He is an idiot who publicly attacked me, despite having no idea what ACTUALLY happened,” Musk wrote. “Btw, your brother claims to be independent, but is just a Dem donor shill.”
Chris Hadfield, the beloved retired Canadian astronaut, waded into the mess, too, reposting comments he made regarding Williams and Wilmore last week.
“Suni and Butch have never been ‘stranded’ in space,” Hadfield wrote. “They’re prepared and committed to the mission, like all professional astronauts. Suni’s Space Station commander, they’re doing spacewalks, working hard on behalf of NASA and all partners, having the time of their lives.”
Earlier this month, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered Musk to “go get” Williams and Wilmore, NASA announced the pair will arrive back on Earth a little sooner than planned.
Trump’s call was an unusual intervention by a president into NASA’s meticulously arranged ISS schedule and foisted Wilmore and Williams into an unlikely political spotlight.
The astronauts are among seven currently aboard the ISS, and they remain healthy and busy with routine scientific research aboard the orbiting outpost, NASA has said.
And while the astronauts’ unexpected stay has faced plenty of delays, it’s not unusual for space crews to end up on unexpected extensions. Strenuous, but standard, training prepares astronauts for lengthy stays in space.
“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck,” Williams told CNN last week. “Help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative. Let’s change it to ‘prepared and committed.’”
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