NASA Astronauts Refute Musk’s Claim Of Being “Abandoned” In Space

NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have denied claims made by Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump that they were “stranded” in space by the Biden administration, Fortune reported.

Williams and Wilmore confirmed that their return to Earth was delayed due to technical issues, but they were never abandoned. I Photo: Kim Shiflett, NASA Kennedy Flickr

Williams and Wilmore confirmed that their return to Earth was delayed due to technical issues, but they were never abandoned. Despite this, Musk told Fox News that "they were left up there for political reasons."

His remarks prompted a response from former ISS commander Andreas Mogensen, who posted on X (formerly Twitter):

“What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media.”

Musk fired back: “SpaceX could have brought them back months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to Biden and they refused. Their return was delayed for political reasons.”

Musk also called Mogensen an “idiot.”

Mogensen responded: “Elon, I have long admired you and your achievements with SpaceX and Tesla. But you know as well as I do that Butch and Suni are scheduled to return with Crew-9, as planned since last September. Even now, you’re not sending a separate rescue ship—they will return on the Dragon capsule that has been docked at the ISS since last year.”

His statement was backed by Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield, who added: “Suni and Butch were never ‘stranded’ in space. They’re committed to the mission, performing spacewalks, and having the time of their lives.”