Elon Musk responds to being fact-checked by Danish astronaut: Here’s what he said

Elon Musk got into a war of words with a Danish astronaut on X over allegations the Biden administration had deliberately abandoned two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The X owner did not take kindly to being fact-checked by astronaut Andreas Mogensen over his allegations that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had been “deliberately stranded” aboard the ISS.

Musk called Mogensen “retarded” in an X post and claimed his company SpaceX could have brought the astronauts home months ago.

Andreas Mogensen’s reply to Elon Musk

Mogensen said that he had long admired Musk’s work with Tesla and SpaceX. He said that Musk was aware about the plan to bring Wilmore and Williams to Earth with SpaceX’s Crew mission. He lambasted the billionaire saying that even now, he was not sending a rescue ship to bring the astronauts back.

This was a reference to the delays in SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission launch.

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When Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are returning to Earth

The astronauts will now return to Earth on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. Mogensen confirmed the news in his exchange with Musk.

NASA’s mission management teams have chosen to use a Dragon capsule that had been flown before for the Crew-10 mission rather than wait for a new capsule, whose production has been delayed.

This has moved the return date for Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s return home. The duo will now board the spacecraft on March 12 instead of March 25. The duo could land on Earth on March 19, provided there are no delays.

Elon Musk ISS controversy

The billionaire has often claimed that SpaceX could have facilitated the return of the astronauts earlier. He and US President Donald Trump have repeatedly accused the Joe Biden administration of delaying the return of the astronauts for “political reasons.”

Musk made similar comments in an interview recently, which prompted Andreas Mogensen to respond to his allegations.

When Musk was fact-checked by Mogensen on the claims, he did not respond to the comments.

Musk has claimed that the ISS must be deorbited since it “served his purpose”. He reiterated his call for sending space missions to Mars.

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Elon Musk’s fascination with Mars

The billionaire has claimed that humanity must concentrate its efforts on going to Mars and creating self-sustaining cities there. The SpaceX owner believes that crewed missions to Mars can be achieved by 2028, with cities possible on the red planet in two decades.

FAQs

1. Who is Andreas Mogensen?
Andreas Mogensen is the first Dane to go to space.


2. Is Elon Musk’s SpaceX involved in the astronauts' return?
Yes, the astronauts will return aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule that has been docked on the ISS since September.