Elon Musk has a knack for stirring up drama, and his latest post on X is no exception. On Tuesday evening, the SpaceX founder shared a head-scratching message, claiming that former President Donald Trump asked SpaceX to bring home two astronauts he described as “stranded” on the International Space Station (ISS).
“The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so,” Musk wrote. He added, “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”
Here’s the thing: NASA insists the astronauts—Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—aren’t actually stranded. The duo flew to the ISS on a Boeing Starliner mission in June, which faced technical issues, but they’ve had a safe ride home available since September when SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission arrived with extra seats.
So, what’s really going on? Some experts think Musk might just be trolling—especially since the post went out at 4:20 PM, a time Musk famously loves to joke about. But others wonder if there’s a political motive. Trump is known to be close with Musk, and bringing the astronauts home early could be seen as a jab at the current administration.
NASA hasn’t commented yet, but pulling Wilmore and Williams back early could cause a logistical nightmare. The Crew-9 mission is set to return in April, and a premature departure would leave just one astronaut on the ISS. That’s far from ideal for managing tasks like repairs and preparing cargo ships for departure.
While it’s technically possible to bring the astronauts home sooner, doing so would create a lot of headaches for NASA and its international partners. For now, it seems more likely that this is just another Musk headline-grabber.
So, are the astronauts stranded? Not really. But Musk’s tweet has certainly stirred up some buzz—and maybe a few eye rolls.