Drama has once again emerged regarding the Starliner crew. The crew has become the subject of political debate, despite the mission’s apolitical nature. This controversy follows Elon Musk’s insults toward a former ISS commander after comments about an interview between Musk and President Donald Trump.
“We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded… …if you’ll help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative, let’s change it to prepared and committed. That’s what you’ve been hearing. That’s what we’d prefer” – Butch Wilmore during a CNN interview
A common misconception must be addressed. The crew is not in danger, nor are they short on supplies. Sufficient food, water, air, and clothing have been provided for the extended mission.
Starliner’s issues leading to this
As a brief review, on June 5, 2024, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner. This marked Boeing’s third mission for the spacecraft and its first crewed launch. The vehicle had been developed alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. However, persistent issues have affected the vehicle’s development.
Starliner OFT-1, launched in 2019, failed to dock with the ISS due to incorrect programming. A second mission, OFT-2, was launched in 2022 to complete OFT-1’s objectives. OFT-2 was nearly perfect, aside from a few thruster failures. Boeing covered the full cost of OFT-2, with no funding provided by NASA or the U.S. government.
After OFT-2’s success, Wilmore and Williams were launched to the ISS. However, thruster issues and a helium leak developed, similar to OFT-2. NASA decided to return the Starliner capsule alone and merge the Starliner crew with SpaceX’s Crew-9 team. Crew-9 arrived at the ISS on September 29, 2024.
The Drama
On February 18, Sean Hannity interviewed Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The Starliner crew’s return plan was discussed, and Musk stated:
“Yes, they were left up there for political reasons, which is not good.”
In response, Andreas Mogensen replied on X:
“What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”
Mogensen, a Danish astronaut, has flown twice. He served as a Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-18M and as a Pilot for SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission. His tenure as ISS Commander lasted from September 27, 2023, to April 6, 2024, during Expedition 70.
Elon Musk then responded directly to Mogensen, saying (verbatim):
“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.”
Musk claimed that an offer to bring the crew home had been made but was refused. However, on August 30, 2024, NASA released a statement confirming that the Starliner crew would return with Crew-9.
\In another discussion with @DrPhilTil, Musk continued to insult Mogensen, stating:
“And this so-called ‘Commander’ doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.
Dude has no clue what’s really going on.
He’s a passenger.”
However, Mogensen was not a passenger but the Crew-7 mission pilot. No evidence supports Musk’s claim, and none has been provided by him.
During a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper, Butch Wilmore stated:
“We bring crews to and from space station. We have a cycle of period of time where those things take place. And to alter that cycle sends ripple effects all the way down the chain. We would never expect to come back, just special for us or anyone unless it was a medical issue or something really, really out of the circumstances along those lines. So we need to come back and keep the normal cycle going.”
Musk’s claim contradicts both existing evidence and standard NASA procedures.
If President Trump follows Musk’s proposal, then only one American, Don Pettit, would remain on the ISS. He arrived aboard Soyuz MS-26. The rest of the crew would consist solely of Russian cosmonauts: Ivan Vagner and Aleksey Ovchinin. This situation would match the low U.S. presence seen between the Shuttle program’s end and Crew Dragon’s debut.
Starliner was not the only spacecraft experiencing delays. Crew-10 was originally scheduled to launch in February. However, SpaceX required additional time to prepare the newly built Crew Dragon, C213 (name to be assigned on its first flight). Instead, Crew Dragon Endurance will now launch Crew-10. This change was announced on February 11.
Had C213 been ready sooner, the Starliner crew could have returned this month instead of next. This indicates that SpaceX, not political interference, caused the recent mission extension.
Musk’s reasoning also remains inconsistent. If Biden wanted the Starliner crew home earlier, Crew-9 could have returned them upon arrival in September. Their departure spacecraft has been docked since then. Instead, keeping them until the scheduled rotation minimizes disruption to NASA and its partners.
Musk continued defending his claims beyond his exchange with Mogensen. X user @KenKirtland17 posted the following:
“Just to make this clear the Musk lie about the astronauts isn’t ‘SpaceX offered a mission.’ The lie is that ‘NASA and the NASA and even Biden (lmao) didn’t want SpaceX to bring the astronauts home because he no likey Elon 😔’ even though that’s exactly what NASA did during Biden (which off rip tells you how absurd this dumbass lie is).
Why would NASA pay for a whole new Crew Dragon Mission $200M+ to interrupt the ISS schedule to bring astronauts back a few months earlier (for no reasons). When they could just leave them on the ISS for free, put them to work on the station, and bring them back on the next scheduled Dragon? Which is what they decided. Answer that fucking question or shut the fuck up.
This wasn’t done because of politics.”
Musk, displeased with this post, replied saying–
“You are the liar.
And the people you cite were not party to the discussions.
Liar.”
X’s Community Notes disputed Musk’s claims, citing seven sources proving Ken’s statements correct. Earlier that day, Musk said he wanted to change the Community Notes system. It is unclear whether his being routinely fact-checked influenced this decision.
Even a day after this drama took place, Elon continues to pick fights with NASA astronauts. With former ISS commander and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly saying the following to Elon’s previous comments-
I was the 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.
Elon responded by continuing to insult Andreas and doubling down on his position, saying the following–
Yes, he does. He is an idiot who publicly attacked me, despite having no idea what ACTUALLY happened.
Elon’s rhetoric is quite aggressive against both NASA’s plans and NASA’s employees. Space Explored reached out to NASA for a statement in response to Elon’s comments and behavior. We have not yet received a reply.
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