Sunita Williams 'abandoned'? Musk, astronaut feud over Biden's role

Sunita Williams' delayed return sparks a heated feud between Elon Musk and astronaut Andreas Mogensen, as Biden faces blame and Trump tasks SpaceX with bringing them home

A heated online exchange erupted between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Danish astronaut Andreas ‘Andy’ Mogensen on Thursday over claims that former US President Joe Biden abandoned astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in space. The dispute arose after President Donald Trump assigned Musk the task of bringing the astronauts back to Earth.

 

Mogensen, the former commander of the International Space Station (ISS), took to social media to challenge Musk’s assertion that Williams and Wilmore, who have been aboard the ISS for nearly 300 days, were left stranded for political reasons.

 

The controversy began when Mogensen, 48, shared a clip from a Fox News interview featuring Musk and Trump. In the interview, Musk alleged that the Biden administration had deliberately delayed the astronauts’ return.

 

 

“What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media,” Mogensen wrote on X (formerly Twitter), disputing Musk’s claim. 

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 swiftly returned with a personal attack on the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut. “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 posted in response.

 

Mogensen, who has flown to the ISS twice, including on a SpaceX Crew Dragon mission in 2023, countered Musk’s claims, accusing him of distorting the facts. “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 to the Dragon capsule that has been on ISS since last September,” Mogensen wrote.

 

The argument gained traction after Trump, during the Fox News interview, asked Musk when the astronauts would be brought back. “I think it’s about four weeks to bring them back,” Musk replied. Trump then accused Biden of leaving the astronauts in space, stating, “He didn’t want the publicity.”

 

This is not the first time Trump has criticised Biden over the astronauts' extended stay. Last month, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had directed SpaceX to bring them home “as soon as possible,” adding, “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

 

Williams and Wilmore had initially travelled to the ISS in June 2023 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for what was meant to be an eight-day certification mission. However, due to thruster malfunctions, Nasa opted to return Starliner without the astronauts, assigning SpaceX the responsibility of bringing them home instead.

 

Nasa later confirmed that Williams and Wilmore would return aboard the Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which launched in September 2023 with a crew of two instead of four to accommodate them. Their return, initially scheduled for February, is now set for March 19.