Why did Elon Musk just say Trump wants to bring two stranded astronauts home?
For reasons that were not immediately clear, SpaceX founder Elon Musk took to his social media site X on Tuesday evening to make a perplexing space-based pronouncement.
"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. "Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
Now generally, at Ars Technica, it is not our policy to write stories strictly based on things Elon Musk says on X. However, this statement was so declarative, and so consternation-inducing for NASA, it bears a bit of explication.
lmao bullshit, Ars loves to sneed about everything Elon does; it's basically TMZ but only covering Elon.
Foremost, NASA has gone to great lengths to stress that the two astronauts referenced here—Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—are not stranded on the International Space Station.
The astronauts are clearly stranded as has been covered extensively over the last year by even leftie organisations:
NPR also released an article insisting that the astronauts aren't stranded - https://www.npr.org/2025/01/28/nx-s1-5278636/iss-astronaut-rescue-spacex-trump:
Ars comments are of course mad:
Why wouldn't the US government want to bring two stranded astronauts home? Why is this the top comment? What are you mad about?
They were meant to be there for eight days. The eighteen month stay was planned.
And yet they're still stranded there, curious. Why don't they just fly back home? They must want to be there.
The bottom two comments - note the guy who's had an account for 17 years.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
If Biden had announced plans to rescue the two stranded astronauts Ars would be on their knees licking his taint.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Biden forces Musk to begrugingly return brave astronauts held hostage by SpaceX
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
For a bargain price!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
"Biden, not content with sending money overseas, now promises to spend billions on aid to outer space"
-chuds
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Their rescue vehicle literally launched in September last year.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
What happened to it?![:marseyshook: :marseyshook:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyshook.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Still up there until NASA launches the next crew
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh so it's for emergencies?![:marseyshook: :marseyshook:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyshook.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
A bit of that, and a bit of 'why send this home empty'
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh so it's for economic reasons?![:marseyexcited: :marseyexcited:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyexcited.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Its a bit of Column A and a bit of Column B. Emergencies+don't send the expensive ride back empty.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
The amount of economic theory shit talking over here is amazing. Bravo.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
So which one is it?![:marseyconfused: :marseyconfused:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyconfused.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Why did you change from being RWBY?![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
!friendsofsphereserf I will now attempt to communicate with Spherechief in his people's language, though I may be a little rusty
ahem![:marseyclink: :marseyclink:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyclink.webp)
T'ááłá'í íiyisí yáhoot'ééł.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I don't get it?![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Rude to assume that I speak Dineh![:!marseyindignant: :!marseyindignant:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyindignant.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
chʼį́įdii!
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
No![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Why?![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Did you drop the RWBY gimmick because of me showing the trvkeralds about how bvilt all RWBBC snowbunnies are?![:marseyclueless: :marseyclueless:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyclueless.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Dealbreaker for me is the lack of privacy when you need to #2. Everybody is aware of how long it takes you, and at what frequency.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Isn't there more than one potty though?![:marseyconfused: :marseyconfused:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyconfused.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Not if you spend the whole day squatting over a bag
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
I don't get it![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
The replacement SpaceX capsule to return them was launched in September already. Now they are just covering the next crew's shift to not waste millions of dollars on a second launch because my le astronauts... are in le space.![:marseyoppenheimer: :marseyoppenheimer:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyoppenheimer.webp)
!spacechads Discuss how to best send all wingcucks on a collision course with Jupiter
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Wouldn't it be more cost efficient to send them to Venus?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More cost effective to never bring them home ever tbh
Your permanent duty station is now LEO
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I don't get it![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
LEO MEANS LOW EARTH ORBIT
1 UPMARSEY PLZ![:marseytippinghand: :marseytippinghand:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseytippinghand.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Hai
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
What's that mean?![:marseyconfused: :marseyconfused:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyconfused.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Ita meansu yes![:marseykamikaze: :marseykamikaze:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseykamikaze.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
they already have peepeees though
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
We don't want to contaminate the future Venusian colonies
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
more cost efficient would be to launch without looking and let them drift into space for however long it might be
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Is the thing about the ISS smelling like shit because of a burger astronaut foid destroying the sewage system true?![:marseyshook: :marseyshook:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyshook.webp)
Can you ping spacechads for this question?![:marseybegging: :marseybegging:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseybegging.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Sending a foid to space is where the illusion of we can all do it finally breaks apart. You have to sacrifice everything to be an astronaut. There is no sense of privacy or personalized dignity. Even an overcrowded frathouse party has more freedom because you at least wouldn't be stuck with the smell of week old farts in a locked capsule while being told that your mission is the most important thing this century while floating cat piss in a jar to study the effects of low gravity on domestic animal feces to determine whether having pets in space can ever be a viable option.
One must remember that the top 1% of moids are waaaaayyyyy above the top 1% of foids on the planet, and that even among the top 1% of moids 99% would never be capable of making it in that space tin can for more than a month.
Now add foids to this mix not because the report suggested that they were actually the best of the best, but because they were the best of the available foids available, and you end up with a coin flip every time you send out a foid into space between her being alright for a foid or her causing irreversible damage to multi-billion dollar equipment due to hysteria caused by the extreme disconnect between the life she has lived and the tin can she is stuck in now.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
have s*x incel
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Sentient
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
They dont seem stranded
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
"Hey we're sending you on a work trip for a week" only then your return flight gets delayed for 10 months and you're in space
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
You need to accept we're living in a post-dictionary world.
Sure, most words probably have a definition written down somewhere (even the long ones) but what really matters is my gut feeling about what the words might mean.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Wdym?![:marseyconfused: :marseyconfused:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyconfused.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
This is the natural conclusion of whole language learning.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
I have my truck parked outside.
I am stranded because my boss asked me to stay at the project later
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It's more like your boss said he was going to drive you home. But he doesn't want to make two trips, so you're gonna have to stay at the office all weekend.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
They could take their lander home at any time. It's just that they have to do turnover with the new astronauts
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
What if they can't find the keys for the lander? (maybe they fell down behind the seat) Are they stranded again, or were they always stranded?
![:marseycatbox: :marseycatbox:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseycatbox.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
nooo the heckin astronauts are in... le space![:marseycry: :marseycry:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseycry.webp)
They have a return ship (SpaceX Crew Dragon) docked to the station since September. NASA just decided to let them cover the next crew's shift instead of paying 1 billion dollars extra to get them back early.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Now you are just saying this in bad faith![:marseyannoyed: :marseyannoyed:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyannoyed.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I'm dead serious when it comes to space![:marseyautismdisconcerting: :marseyautismdisconcerting:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyautismdisconcerting.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Then why did you post in bad faith?![:marseyannoyed: :marseyannoyed:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyannoyed.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Those poor astronauts had no idea something could go wrong.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Space race was so based. Back in @Frank_Williams's day cosmonauts would go up into the stars not even knowing if they'd ever return.
long live the ccp
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Wdym?![:marseyconfused: :marseyconfused:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyconfused.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
They're technically correct. Stranded is being left on an island. These astronauts have been Shanghaied since the voyage was nonconsensually lengthened to a significant degree and they are apparently forced to work. Poor lads probably don't even get a grog ration.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
They're federal employees and this is consistent with the administration's guidance for the federal workforce
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
No, they should be fired for failing to come into the NASA offices and working from their current home.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
What do you notice?![:marseyshook: :marseyshook:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyshook.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I will be messaging you on 30.01.2025, 02:07 UTC to remind you of this comment
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Why did I set a reminder?![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh now I remember![:marseyexcited: :marseyexcited:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyexcited.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Did you notice anything now![:marseyshook: :marseyshook:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseyshook.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Technically they never were then as there are emergency escape pods at all times
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Actually curious but how come they never actually made some automatic emergency escape pods in the past 20 years?
I imagine that whatever trajectories and mathematics that need to be calculated can be done by normal computers, right?
Do they just want to avoid having a company outsource it all to sexy Indian dudes or something?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I think they just haven't had the need, they always leave an extra soyuz and now dragon up there
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
I don't even know why they're kitty footing around the wording and issue.
Boeing fricked up. Its been documented and articled about them fricking up. There was concerns of how long they were going to be stuck there.
Its so Orwellian this revisionism that I want journos put against the wall for all our safety.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Yeah Boeing fricked up and SpaceX launched a new replacement capsule for them in September
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
NoOooooo NASA said "rot in space BIPOC fgts I love DEI time for an LGBTQAGI orgy in the bathroom" and then cut communication
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Why are you saying this?![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
Why are the astronauts
stranded in space? Why don't they just jump back to Earth? Are they stupid?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Live astronaut reaction
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Only Red Bull has that technology and they refuse to share it with NASA
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
Journos should be outlawed. In the old sense -- stripped of all protections under the law so that anything done to them is legal. I don't believe in human rights for journos.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Sky News is not lefty
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I know that's just the first page of Google News articles written about the astronauts before today. The universal consensus was that the astronauts were stranded.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
It's like they don't know google exists
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Incredible
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
I wonder if they are setting any records for being on the space station the longest...but let's not say they are stranded
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
They're setting records for being on the space station involuntarily for the longest.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
NASA is holding a woman against her will.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
After that crazy one fricked some shit up with a drill to go home after her BF broke up with her it was all downhill.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
That's because journ*lists only write dumb shit that you'll click on so they can make money with Taboola ads
Nobody cares after they got a replacement shuttle bolted to the ISS
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Obviously the journos were wrong then but they're right now and you're a chud if you think otherwise
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
If only someone had launched a rescue capsule 4 months ago![:marseysad: :marseysad:](https://i.rdrama.net/e/marseysad.webp)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Why don't they get on it and fly home then?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Because astronauts being in space is not a disaster. Bringing them back early would require a whole new launch to replace them which is a waste of money. not DOGE certified
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
More options
Context
By Einstein's predictions it is not possible to hate journ*lists enough. The max hate for journ*lists can never be achieved even if all.the seethe in the universe were concentrated on one single article. Instead the article would be collapsed into a memory hole and journ*list would claim it didn't exist and you are crazy for even talking about it.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
so they had a ship to take them up there. said ship was also supposed to take them back. However, said ship had worries about it's safety. Instead they flew it back to earth empty. There were no problems. The reason they did this is because they had the option to fly the astronauts back in a spacex ship, which was considered safer. This flight was scheduled for march iirc.
so yeah, frick biden i guess?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Sad to see this from Eric Berger, hopefully he just wants to protect NASA and hasn't become a wingnut.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
I don't know much about this stuff but I clearly remember reading all kinds of mainstream stuff about how Boeing's spaceship is a buggy piece of shit that NASA doesn't trust to bring them home.
That was only a month or two ago. Pretty bold to try to memoryhole it so soon.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Snapshots:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/why-did-elon-musk-just-say-trump-wants-to-bring-two-stranded-astronauts-home/:
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/28/nx-s1-5278636/iss-astronaut-rescue-spacex-trump::
ghostarchive.org
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context