Call NASA Astronauts Stuck On The ISS Due To Political Affairs, ESA Astronauts Denies Elon Musk's Speech

SpaceX owner Elon Musk (photo: X @elonmusk)

JAKARTA Andreas Mogensen, an astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA), was seen arguing on platform X with Elon Musk. This debate is based on two NASA astronauts who are still trapped on the space station.

Last year, NASA sent two of its astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, to the International Space Station (ISS) to test Boeing's Starliner aircraft. Both are scheduled to return home within two weeks, but Starliner is in trouble.

As a result, the two astronauts have not been able to return until now. Musk, who claimed to care about the two astronauts, also wanted to bring them back to Earth sooner. However, Musk's recent statement caused controversy.

In an exclusive interview with US President Donald Trump on Fox News media, Musk said that Williams and Wilmore could not return due to Joe Biden's political actions.

"Yes, they are still up there (ISS) for political reasons, which is not good. That's not good now," Musk said in the interview.

Footage of this statement circulated on various social media, including X, until it was seen by Astronaut ESA Mogensen. He also considered the clip that was shared by one of the accounts and stated that Musk's statement was a lie.

"It's a lie. And (the statement emerged) from someone who complained about the lack of honesty from the mainstream media," Mogensen wrote on Thursday, February 20.

Hours later, Musk responded to the criticism. The billionaire said that Mogensen was stupid and very 'backward' for calling him a liar. In fact, Musk accused the existence of a political element because Biden rejected his offer.

"You're completely underdeveloped. SpaceX could have returned it a few months ago. I offered this directly to the Biden administration and they refused. The return was postponed for political reasons. Stupid," Musk said.

Mogensen still doesn't seem to accept that the postponement of Williams and Wilmore's return occurred due to political elements. According to Mogensen, the slow return of the two astronauts actually occurred because they joined the Crew-9 expedition crew.

This means that Williams and Wilmore must work on several experiments and research with two other Crew-9 members. They will return to Earth after Crew-10 arrives and hand over assignments, as usual.

"You know the same as me that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9, as planned since last September. Even now, you will not send rescue ships to take them home. They will return using Dragon capsules that have been on the ISS since last September," Mogensen said.

Musk has not responded to this statement, but what Mogensen said is true. The two astronauts who are still trapped on the ISS did not return home because they had to join Crew-9. However, to speed up the return of the two astronauts, NASA will accelerate the launch of the Crew-10 mission.