Elon Musk Slams Astronaut For Branding his Space Station Mission to Rescue Two Stranded NASA Explorers a 'Lie' in Brutal Tit-For-Tat Exchange
Mogensen and Musk engaged in a war of tweets on X
Feb. 21 2025, Published 2:52 p.m. ET
Elon Musk has found himself in an intense debate with a famous former astronaut, RadarOnline.com can report, after the SpaceX founder called spaceman Andreas Mogensen a "r-----" for saying Musk "lied" over claims two astronauts stranded in space have been forgotten.
Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stranded at the International Space Station since June.
Musk claimed the email was to figure out who had a 'pulse and two working neuron.'
During an appearance on Fox News earlier this week, Musk told Sean Hannity the astronauts were "left up their for political reasons," adding former President Biden "was going to leave them in space."
Musk also vowed to bring them home now in as soon as four weeks.
But Mogensen, the first Dane to fly in space, fired back in a tweet on X: "What a lie. And from someone who complains about lack of honesty from the mainstream media."
That got Musk riled up. He shot back: "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."
Hoping to bring back a little class to the discussion, Mogensen replied: "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 on the Dragon capsule that has been on ISS since last September."
That was the last tweet in their tit-for-tat.
Wilmore and Williams have been stranded since June.
As RadarOnline.com originally reported, Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, left for their mission in June, and were originally expected to be gone for six to eight days. They've been stuck at the Space Station ever since after their Boeing Starliner capsule experienced mechanical problems.
Now, they'll likely be in space for close to a year.
While scrambling to figure out what to do with the astronauts, NASA decided to send the Starliner back to Earth without Wilmore and Williams in September.
The pair was supposed to hitch a ride back on SpaceX's new Crew Dragon capsule, which was expected to arrive at the ISS in February. Two astronauts were even bumped from the flight to make room for Wilmore and Williams.
But their plans have been delayed again due to SpaceX needing more time to develop their brand new capsule, pushing the return date to "no earlier than late March," according to NASA's announcement on Tuesday, December 17.
A rescue rocket could still be weeks away.
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NASA said they considered using a different SpaceX capsule to keep the return flight on schedule but ultimately decided to wait on the brand new capsule.
The agency said waiting on the SpaceX capsule is "the best option for meeting NASA’s requirements and achieving space station objectives for 2025.".
Since their mission was first extended, the pair attempted to stay optimistic and focused on work at the ISS as NASA insisted they were not "stranded" in space.
In September, Wilmore said in an interview: "Eight days to eight months or nine months or 10 months, whatever it is, we're going to do the very best job we can do every single day."
