February 21, 2025
NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, now in their 261st day aboard the International Space Station (ISS), remain at the center of a prolonged mission saga sparked by Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft. Their extended stay, originally planned as an eight-day test flight, has escalated into a public spectacle, fueled by technical setbacks, political rhetoric, and a fiery online spat between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former ISS commander Andreas Mogensen on February 20, 2025.
The Starliner Saga: A Mission Gone Awry
Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on June 5, 2024, for its inaugural crewed Crew Flight Test (CFT). The mission was meant to certify the spacecraft for regular ISS crew rotations under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a $4.2 billion contract awarded to Boeing in 2014. However, the Starliner encountered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions shortly after launch, compromising its ability to safely return the astronauts. After docking with the ISS on June 6, extensive ground testing revealed persistent issues, prompting NASA to return the spacecraft uncrewed on September 7, 2024. Williams and Wilmore were reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, extending their stay to nearly ten months, with a return now targeted for late March 2025.
Revised Return Plan: Crew-9 and Crew-10 Adjustments
The astronauts are set to return aboard the Crew Dragon “Freedom” (C206), which launched as part of Crew-9 on September 28, 2024, with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, leaving two seats for Williams and Wilmore. Meanwhile, the Crew-10 mission, originally scheduled for late March with a new Crew Dragon (C213), has been rescheduled to launch no earlier than March 12, 2025, at 7:48 p.m. EDT. Due to delays in certifying the new capsule—stemming from battery issues—NASA opted to reuse the “Endurance” (C210) capsule, currently docked at the ISS with Crew-9, after its return and refurbishment. This adjustment ensures a swift handover, with Crew-10 carrying NASA commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov.
Political Pressure and Public Perception
The Starliner delays have drawn political attention, notably from President Donald Trump, who, alongside Musk, has claimed the Biden administration “abandoned” the astronauts for political reasons—an assertion NASA refutes, citing safety as the sole driver of its decisions. In a February 18 Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump and Musk reiterated this narrative, with Musk stating SpaceX was “accelerating the return” at Trump’s behest. Williams and Wilmore have countered such claims, with Williams telling USA TODAY, “Being deployed for a little while is not unusual for any of us and that’s part of the game.”
Musk vs. Mogensen: A Twitter Tempest
The situation boiled over on February 20, 2025, when Musk clashed with Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut who commanded Expedition 70 on the ISS in 2023 and piloted SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission. Responding to Musk’s Fox News comments, Mogensen posted on X: “What a lie! Suni and Butch were never abandoned or stranded. Extended stays happen—look at Frank Rubio’s 371 days. They’re returning on the Dragon that’s been at the ISS since September. No rescue ship needed.” Musk fired back, calling Mogensen “fully retarded” and a “passenger, not a commander,” alleging NASA rejected SpaceX’s offer to retrieve the astronauts earlier to avoid “positive press for someone who supported Trump.” Mogensen retorted, “I commanded the ISS, not a passenger. You’re spreading nonsense to prop up a false narrative.”
The exchange escalated as Musk doubled down, tweeting, “This guy doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground,” and suggesting the ISS, set for deorbiting in 2030, should be retired by 2027, claiming, “It’s served its purpose. Let’s go to Mars.” X users piled on, with some mocking Musk’s outburst and others defending his critique of NASA’s handling of the Starliner situation.
Astronauts’ Resilience Amid Drama
Despite the terrestrial turmoil, Williams and Wilmore remain focused on their duties. Williams, now Expedition 72 commander, recently completed a spacewalk on January 16, 2025, with Nick Hague, contributing to station maintenance and scientific research. In a lighthearted NASA broadcast this month, Wilmore dismissed “Cast Away” comparisons, saying, “We’ve got a whole team up here, tons of science experiments, and spacewalks coming up. It’s been a joy.”
The crew 10 members are NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. After arriving at the ISS, Crew 9 members will handoff the station and their assignment to the new Crew 10 members.
The Astronauts’ Perspective
Williams and Wilmore, both seasoned astronauts with prior long-duration missions, have adapted to their extended stay with professionalism and resilience. Williams, now serving as expedition commander, remarked in an interview with USA TODAY, “Being deployed for a little while is not unusual for any of us and that’s part of the game.” Their extended mission has included participation in scientific research, a spacewalk and ISS maintenance, contributing valuable data to ongoing studies.
Scott Kelly holds the record for the longest single stay by an American astronaut aboard the International Space Station. He spent 340 days in space during a continuous mission from March 27, 2015, to March 1, 2016.
The record for the most continuous days in space is held by Valeri Polyakov, a Russian cosmonaut. He spent 437 days, 17 hours, and 58 minutes aboard the Mir space station from January 8, 1994, to March 22, 1995. This remains the longest single spaceflight by any human to date, as of February 20, 2025. Polyakov, a physician, volunteered for this extended mission to study the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body, particularly in preparation for potential missions to Mars. Upon landing, he famously walked from the Soyuz capsule to a nearby chair to demonstrate physical capability after such an extended period in microgravity.
Looking Ahead
The Musk-Mogensen spat underscores the intersection of technical challenges, corporate rivalry, and political theater in modern spaceflight. Boeing’s Starliner program, plagued by earlier setbacks like the failed 2019 Orbital Flight Test and cost overruns exceeding $2 billion, faces scrutiny as SpaceX continues to dominate crewed missions. NASA defends its partnership with both companies, with Steve Stich noting, “Our operational flexibility is enabled by SpaceX’s agility and Boeing’s efforts to refine Starliner.” As Crew-10 prepares to launch and Crew-9 awaits its return window, Williams and Wilmore’s safe homecoming will mark the end of a tumultuous chapter—one that’s as much about human endurance as it is about the drama unfolding below.
