Elon Musk responds after former space station commander calls him a “liar"

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A high-flying war of words is underway after the former commander of the space station called SpaceX CEO and presidential advisor Elon Musk a liar.

Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut who was in charge of an International Space Station crew that returned home last year, made the comment on X in response to Musk’s claims that the Biden administration purposefully delayed the return of NASA’s so-called stranded astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Musk, astronaut trade barbs

What they're saying:

In an interview alongside President Donald Trump on FOX News Channel, Musk said Wilmore’s and Williams’ return to Earth "was postponed, kind of, to a ridiculous degree."

"They got left in space," Trump agreed, echoing statements he'd previously made.

"They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good," Musk added.

Mogensen, on X, reposted video of the exchange, adding, "What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media."

To him, Musk responded, "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."

Are NASA’s astronauts stuck in space?

Not really. If an emergency arose, all of the astronauts – including Wilmore and Williams – could get home to Earth aboard the SpaceX and Russian Soyuz craft currently at the space station.

The backstory:

Wilmore and Williams launched to the station in June on a test flight of Boeing’s new Starliner space capsule. Their trip was supposed to last eight days, but after the Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster issues, NASA opted to have the astronauts stay on the station and return home later aboard a SpaceX capsule.

NASA shuffled its manifests to make room for Wilmore and Williams to return when the next crew rotation ended, which at the time was scheduled for February.

Williams and Wilmore have stayed busy in the meantime, conducting experiments and working with other astronauts around the station, even participating in spacewalks. NASA has stressed they have plenty of supplies and the astronauts themselves have repeatedly said they are fine.

Dig deeper:

The astronauts’ return date eventually slipped to late March, then moved earlier last week when SpaceX opted to delay the debut of a new capsule they were planning to use, swapping it for a previously flown version. The change, due to technical issues with the brand new capsule, allowed NASA to slide the launch slightly sooner.

Though Sean Hannity, in this week’s interview, characterized the upcoming mission as a rescue, the Crew 10 flight is part of NASA’s standard slate of crew rotations. Launch dates regularly change due to technical issues, supply manifests, orbital mechanics, and other reasons.

Musk does not appear to have previously made any public comments about a plan to bring Williams and Wilmore home last fall, though it’s entirely likely that such a plan was discussed at some level between SpaceX and NASA. Musk has not since provided any further evidence of his claim.

Big picture view:

Though Boeing’s Starliner capsule safely returned to Earth autonomously in September, the company has stayed quiet about its future. The failed mission was a black eye for Boeing and the latest in a string of issues for the Starliner program.

NASA used taxpayer funds to help Boeing develop Starliner and SpaceX develop Crew Dragon with the goal of having redundant space taxis for its astronauts. Should Boeing cancel the Starliner program, SpaceX would be the only launch provider – other than the Russians – capable of ferrying astronauts to the station.

What's next:

The Crew 10 launch is scheduled for March 12, 2025. NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will be aboard SpaceX’s Dragon ‘Endurance,’ along with JAXA mission specialist Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos mission specialist Kirill Peskov.

A few days later, Williams and Wilmore will return with Crew 9 astronauts Nick Hague of NASA and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, riding aboard the Dragon spacecraft ‘Freedom,’ currently docked at the station.

By that point, Williams’ and Wilmore’s eight-day mission will have stretched to 10 months.

Who is Andreas Mogensen?

Brief bio:

Mogensen, the first Dane to fly in space, has accumulated over 208 days in space across two missions to the space station. He served as the commander of ISS Expedition 70 from August 2023 to March of 2024.

When he’s not flying, Mogensen is an aerospace engineer with degrees from Imperial College London and the University of Texas.

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