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.
They dont seem stranded
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
What do you notice?
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?
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Oh now I remember
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
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
"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?
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?
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
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
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
I'm dead serious when it comes to space
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Then why did you post in bad faith?
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?
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
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