While the details were somewhat unclear, SpaceX founder Elon Musk made a puzzling announcement regarding space travel on his social media platform, X, on Tuesday evening.
“The @POTUS has requested that @SpaceX bring home the two astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will comply,” Musk stated. “It’s unfortunate that the Biden administration has left them there for so long.”
At Ars Technica, our policy typically does not involve covering statements made by Elon Musk on X. However, this particular statement, which provoked significant concern within NASA, warrants further examination.
One likely interpretation is that Musk is simply being himself. “He’s trolling,” remarked one of my trusted sources in space policy shortly after Musk’s tweet. After all, the message was posted at 4:20 pm in the central time zone, where SpaceX is headquartered.
Even if it is indeed just trolling, it could still create challenges for NASA.
Firstly, NASA has made it very clear that the two astronauts mentioned—Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—are not stranded on the International Space Station. There was some discussion about whether they were briefly stranded last summer when they traveled to the station aboard a Boeing Starliner vehicle in early June, primarily due to technical issues with Starliner’s propulsion system. (Ultimately, Starliner returned home without its crew.) However, since the arrival of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which has two empty seats, at the end of September, Wilmore and Williams have had a secure route home. The Dragon vehicle is currently docked to the station.
Then, Musk enters the scene with one of the most prominent platforms in the world, loudly claiming that NASA’s astronauts are in danger and that President Trump is urging their rescue. This is quite a significant statement for the SpaceX founder, who has acted as a close advisor to Trump, to make publicly.
It’s also possible that Musk was not merely joking and that Trump called on SpaceX to return Wilmore and Williams sooner for political motives—perhaps to embarrass the Biden administration.
Neither NASA nor SpaceX immediately responded to requests for comment on Tuesday evening.
Is Their Return Possible?
If Trump insisted on the immediate return of the astronauts, the Crew-9 mission could potentially be expedited. Currently, it is scheduled for a Pacific Ocean splashdown in early April. According to NASA, and the astronauts themselves, Wilmore and Williams are faring well in space. They have an ample supply of food and clothing, and an abundance of tasks to complete. Informally, sources have confirmed the same. Although both astronauts were not at first prepared for a 10-month mission in space, they are managing the situation without significant risks. In fact, part of their responsibilities includes addressing such unforeseen circumstances.
The existing return timeline has been influenced by the upcoming launch of the Crew-10 mission, also using a SpaceX spacecraft. This mission is set to launch a new Dragon vehicle, and SpaceX previously requested extra time to prepare the spacecraft for its inaugural launch. This postponed the launch window from February to March 25. To accommodate this schedule, sources indicated that SpaceX may need to utilize a different, previously flown Dragon—potentially the one designated for the Axiom-4 mission—to ensure the success of Crew-10.
