New York: Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX who wears many hats, recently accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of blocking the efforts of his company to bring back NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS).
Now, Wilmore has confirmed what Musk had said as “absolutely factual”.
Asked during an orbital news conference whether Musk’s claims that the Biden administration refused his offer to help return the two astronauts home for political reasons, Wilmore said, “I can only say that Mr Musk, what he says is absolutely factual.”
Wilmore clarified that the astronauts did not have any information on the offer made by Musk.
“We have no information on that whatsoever. What was offered, what was not offered, who it was offered to, how that processes went. That’s information we simply don’t have,” Wilmore said.
On the possibility of political interference, Wilmore said: “From my standpoint, politics is not playing into this at all.”
Originally planned as an eight-day mission when Williams and Wilmore flew to ISS on June 5 last year, the astronauts have now been in orbit for over eight months due to safety concerns surrounding Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which NASA has deemed unsafe for re-entry.
According to Musk, “SpaceX could have sent up another Dragon and brought them home 6 months ago,” but stated the Biden administration refused to allow it.
The two astronauts are expected to return via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon later this month.
After taking charge as US President for a second term, Donald Trump urged SpaceX to expedite the astronauts’ return.
