A SpaceX capsule is set to rescue two astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station on March 19 or 20. They have been there since June 2024.
The astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission. A malfunction occurred in their Boeing Starliner during takeoff, with thruster failures and helium leaks affecting the spacecraft. NASA officials deemed a return too risky and the capsule returned to Earth without Wilmore and Williams.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX received authorization to run the rescue mission.
In an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk claimed he could have returned the astronauts home sooner.
“We offered to bring them back early,” Musk said. “This offer was rejected by the Biden administration.”
Musk, both on Rogan’s podcast and in his joint interview with President Donald Trump on Fox, said the rejection was due to political reasons.
“There’s no way that they’re going to make anyone who’s supporting Trump look good,” he said. “We could have brought them back way sooner.”
In an interview with the ISS astronauts, Wilmore said he did not know the details of the discussions but that he believed Musk’s statement to be true.
“All of us have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously, respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump,” Wilmore said. “We appreciate them. We appreciate all that they do for us, for human space flight, for our nation.”
If Musk’s statement is true, the failure to rescue the astronauts just got worse.
Even if the Biden administration did not want to give a win to Musk, they passed up on a chance to claim a political victory.
Former President Joe Biden could have authorized the rescue and shared credit with Musk for the accomplishment.
It is possible that it would have improved Trump’s poll numbers through an approval rating jump for Musk.
Biden, however, could still have used it as a moment of optimism for his administration. It would not have been unreasonable for him to claim victory for something positive that happened during his administration. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris could have claimed to have a role in it and would have had something positive to tie her to the Biden administration. Biden passed up a chance at a win because he did not want to risk making Musk look good and potentially boosting Trump’s numbers.
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The failure instead gave the Trump campaign more ammunition to point at the failures of the Biden administration. Not only was Biden’s administration incompetent, but it deliberately passed up a chance for an early rescue because it would possibly boost Trump in the polls.
Wilmore and Williams will return after having spent nine months in space. If Biden did not play politics with other lives, they likely would have returned months ago.