After nine months in space, Boeing Starliner spacecraft crew Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore successfully returned to Earth on March 19 on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. However, their return became an occasion for political manipulation by President Donald Trump, who tried to rewrite history by accusing the former Biden administration of abandoning the astronauts in orbit.
The Myth of Salvation
On June 5, 2024, Williams and Wilmore flew to the ISS on Boeing’s Starliner. The mission was supposed to last 8 days, but due to technical malfunctions, the spacecraft was considered dangerous for the crew. The Starliner returned to Earth empty and the astronauts remained on the station. Williams and Wilmore’s return was organized on the backup SpaceX Dragon spacecraft of the Crew-9 mission.
The day before the astronauts returned, Donald Trump posted a message on his Truth Social platform claiming to have contributed to the rescue mission to bring the astronauts home. He also accused Biden of inaction, who “forgot” about the heroes. In fact, an evacuation plan had been in development since as early as August 2023, and the switch to Dragon was part of standard safety protocol.
Trump claimed as if he had expedited the crew’s return by two weeks, although the astronauts had been on the ISS for over 9 months and the extra time would not have affected their health. His claim that the mission was “dangerous” also turned out to be a manipulation: the Dragon’s mission was a routine procedure and the risks were standard. In reality, the “rescue operation” came down to NASA using a backup spacecraft planned for another mission.
The president tried to show the comeback as a productive result of a collaborative rescue strategy in cooperation with Elon Musk. However, SpaceX only completed its contract with NASA, and Musk was not involved in the decision making at all. Trump also accused acting NASA chief Janet Petro of “destroying the space agency,” citing her alleged ties to Biden. In fact, it was under Petro’s leadership that NASA successfully adapted to unforeseen circumstances without stopping scientific research.
Astronauts’ response
Williams and Wilmore emphasized during the ISS broadcast that their work was far from politics, “We perform tasks regardless of who is in power.” They also denied that they felt “abandoned” as Trump claimed. Their record-breaking stay in space was made possible by NASA’s professional support, not political intrigue. And actually, Williams and Wilmore could have left the ISS back in September, but stayed to complete the Crew-9 operations and help with science activities on the space station.
Why does Trump need a space drama?
Donald Trump used the Starliner story to emphasize Biden’s failure and once again glorify himself as a “decisive leader.” However, the real reason for the failure was technical problems at Boeing, which, ironically, was awarded the contract during the Trump era. Instead of criticizing the company, the acting president has relied on misinformation. The reason is simple: Boeing is a key U.S. defense contractor, and a public accusation could damage relations with the company.
The return of Williams and Wilmore should be a lesson: even in space, where science drives the processes, there will be those who try to rewrite history for their own purposes. But as events have shown, the truth will always find a way – even if it has to cross an orbit to do so.
The Starliner story is an example of how technical failures become a political tool. But the real heroes are the astronauts who demonstrate professionalism by staying out of political games.
Earlier we reported on how a NASA astronaut made fun of Elon Musk for being a coward.
According to gizmodo.com
