NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station since June, said Tuesday he believes Elon Musk’s claim that the billionaire suggested an early rescue plan, which was ultimately rejected by then-President Joe Biden. Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams were initially set for an eight-day mission, but their return was delayed when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing was deemed unsafe for the trip back.  

Their extended stay has sparked controversy, with Musk and former President Donald Trump accusing Biden’s administration of refusing the rescue to prevent Musk from appearing as a hero.

“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says is absolutely factual,” said Wilmore, a former Navy test pilot. He admitted he wasn’t privy to the ins and outs of the drama, but added, “I believe him. I don’t know all those details.”

Musk recently engaged in an online dispute with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who accused him of lying during a Fox News interview where he claimed the astronauts were left stranded for “political reasons.”  

Mogensen countered that, since the Boeing Starliner was deemed unsafe for human return, NASA had long planned to bring Wilmore and Williams back on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS in September with two spare seats.  

No alternative plan has been publicly acknowledged, and Crew-9’s return has been delayed by SpaceX itself due to setbacks in preparing the Dragon spacecraft for Crew-10, now set to launch on March 12.  

Interrupting the standard crew rotation would be a break from protocol, and extended astronaut stays are not uncommon. In 2023, Frank Rubio became the first NASA astronaut to spend over a year in space after a meteoroid damaged the Russian Soyuz spacecraft he arrived in. Similarly, after the 2003 Columbia disaster, NASA suspended shuttle flights for two years, forcing astronauts to extend their missions using Soyuz.  

Musk’s response to Mogensen included an offensive slur, drawing backlash from the space community. Former NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly defended Mogensen and condemned the SpaceX founder’s remarks.

“Obviously, we’ve heard some of these different things that have been said,” Wilmore commented. “We have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump. We appreciate them… and we’re thankful that they are in the positions they’re in.”