Elon Musk claims ‘politics’, not science kept Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded in space

Musk on Wednesday claimed that two American astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, had been left stranded in space due to “political reasons” rather than technical or scientific issues. Musk made the statement during an interview with Fox News, where he was joined by President Donald Trump.

“They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good,” said Musk, adding that he played a crucial role in helping get Republican Trump elected, which earned him the Dogecoin position. 

The astronauts in question, including Indian-American Sunita Williams, were stranded in June after a problem was discovered with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which had been scheduled to return them to Earth. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule was then launched to rescue them and successfully docked at the space station. However, NASA delayed their return.

Williams and Wilmore are expected to return to Earth on March 19. Musk explained that their return was “postponed to a ridiculous degree” but added that at President Biden’s request, SpaceX is now accelerating the process. 

“At the president’s request, or instruction, we are accelerating the return of the astronauts,” Musk said, emphasising that his team would proceed with caution, having safely brought astronauts back from the space station multiple times before.

Trump accuses Biden of leaving astronauts stranded in space

Trump also commented on the situation, claiming that Biden had refused to authorise the astronauts’ return, leaving them stranded. “He was going to leave them in space. I think he was going to leave them in space… He didn’t want the publicity,” Trump said.

Wilmore and Williams, who were initially scheduled to stay aboard the space station for just eight days, have now been there for 258 days. NASA had earlier announced that the astronauts would need to wait for another SpaceX vehicle to bring replacement crew members, with the next mission not expected until late March.

Sunita Williams and Wilmore deny feeling abandoned in space

Despite the public outcry, both Williams and Wilmore denied feeling abandoned. “That’s been the rhetoric. That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck — and I get it. We both get it,” Wilmore told CNN. “We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded. I understand why others may think that.” 

Williams shared a similar sentiment, saying, “Butch and I knew this was a test flight. We knew we would probably find some things wrong with Starliner, and we found some stuff, and so that was not a surprise.”

The interview, recorded last week at the White House, also touched on Musk’s involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency. While the astronauts’ return is set to be delayed for another month, the issue has sparked political debate in the US.