Elon Musk had an angry online clash with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen on February 20 after accusing President Joe Biden of having left two US astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) deliberately as a political maneuver.
Andreas Mogensen, an ESA astronaut who has flown two ISS missions, challenged Musk’s claims, publicly calling him a liar on X (formerly Twitter). The war of words between the two men escalated rapidly, attracting a great deal of social media attention.
Musk, in an appearance on Fox News with former President Donald Trump, claimed that the Biden administration had intentionally held up the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. Mogensen did not hesitate to respond.
“What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media,” Mogensen, 48, posted, posting the Fox News video where Musk made the claims.
What a lie.
And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media. https://t.co/DxofPYolon
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) February 20, 2025
Musk hit back in a name-call, answering back Mogensen as “fully retarded.” He stood his ground to assert that SpaceX was capable of returning the astronauts home months prior and stated he had even presented such an opportunity.
Andreas Mogensen Shields NASA’s Strategy
Mogensen pushed back Musk’s assertion with factual explanations. He stated that the trip home of Wilmore and Williams was planned out under NASA’s Crew-9 mission rather than due to political intervention.
“Elon, I have long admired you and what you have accomplished, especially at SpaceX and Tesla. 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 that has been on ISS since last September,” Andreas Mogensen wrote.
Elon, I have long admired you and what you have accomplished, especially at SpaceX and Tesla.
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.…
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) February 20, 2025
Why Wilmore and Williams Remain on the ISS
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams embarked on the ISS in June on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for an eight-day test flight that was to have been completed. Technical problems with the spacecraft’s thrusters, however, resulted in its inability to be safely returned with crew members.
Consequently, NASA had the astronauts reassigned to fly back with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission. SpaceX launched the Crew-9 in September with two members only, leaving room for Wilmore and Williams. Although their return was initially scheduled for February, they are now slated to come back in March following preparations for the Crew-10 mission.
Musk’s statements, though, are not evidence-based since NASA and SpaceX just keep adhering to their projected timeline for the safe return of astronauts.
