NASA ASTRONAUTS STRANDED IN SPACE SPEAKS OUT ON THE SHOCKING CLAIMS MADE BY MUSK
Elon Musk said last month that the reason NASA astronauts are still in space is 'political.' Now, the two have finally addressed his claims. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were scheduled to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) for only eight days, but they ran into several issues with the capsule after they took off nearly 300 days ago.
They were traveling in a Boeing Starliner when five helium leaks occurred, five maneuvering thrusters failed, and a propellant valve failed to close all the way. Along with other astronauts, they are on the ISS, and NASA is frantically trying to find another way to get them home. They launched on June 5, 2024, and have been in space for 274 days. Wilmore, a father of two, will be eager to return to see his children, and Williams will want to see her own family.
So, what has Musk said then?
"They were left up there for political reasons, which is not good," he said to Fox News, in a joint interview with President Trump.
Musk continued: "Well, we don't want to be complacent, but we have brought astronauts back from the space station many times before, and always with success."
Also weighing in, Trump said that his predecessor Joe Biden was 'going to leave them in space'.
The two did not go into detail about how and why Biden might have abandoned Wilmore and Williams to gain political advantage. Wilmore has now addressed the assertions made by Trump and Musk. At a press conference, the patriot stated, "Obviously we've heard some of these different things that have been said, and I can tell you at the outset we all have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk and obviously respect and admiration for our President of the United States Donald Trump." He went on: "We understand that politics is a part of life, so we don't mind the words they used.”
"I'm sure they have some problems they're dealing with, and they have information that we don't have, but we know what we've lived up here, we know the ins and outs, and we know the specifics that they might not know." Before stating: "I can only state that Mr. Musk's statements are completely true; neither I nor we have any information regarding what was offered, what was not offered, who was offered it, or how that process proceeded.
I believe him because that's information that we just don't have. I'm not familiar with all of those specifics, and I doubt that any of us can truly provide you with the response you might be seeking." Nine months later than scheduled, SpaceX is expected to return the two NASA astronauts home soon. "NASA and SpaceX are speeding up the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station," the agency said in a recent update.
"The agency’s Crew-10 launch now is targeting Wednesday, March 12, pending mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process. The Crew-9 mission is planned for return to Earth following a several day handover period with the newly arrived Crew-10 expedition crew."
