There has seemingly been another twist near the end of the tale of the stranded astronauts, as Butch Wilmore has claimed that he ‘believes’ Elon Musk’s claims that they were ‘abandoned’ by the Biden administration, adding that Musk is ‘absolutely factual’.

Williams and Wilmore have been ‘stranded’ upon the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024, after what was supposed to be just an eight-day mission has now stretched over eight months and continues on.

At the heart of their delayed stay are issues with multiple spacecraft, as not only did their Boeing Starliner have faults but the SpaceX Crew-10 Dragon spacecraft that was scheduled to allow them to come back home has also experienced technical difficulties.

Williams and Wilmore have remained ‘stranded’ on the ISS since June 2024, awaiting their return to Earth (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

NASA protocol indicates that there must be a handover process for astronauts leaving the ISS, and subsequently the pair haven’t been able to return home because a new crew hasn’t yet been able to reach the station.

There have been multiple health concerns surrounding the stranded astronauts, as their ‘gaunt’ appearance worried many online and they themselves have expressed fears about their bodies upon returning to Earth.

However, shortly after he officially returned to presidency Donald Trump ordered SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to ‘go get’ Williams and Wilmore, indicating that they had been ‘abandoned’ by the previous Biden administration.

Musk himself has repeatedly reaffirmed these claims, indicating in a recent post on X that “the real issue is that [the Biden administration] did not want positive press for someone who supported Trump. That’s it. End of story.”

In a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk also insinuated that the Biden administration was “extremely antagonistic” towards him and that their return “was pushed back for political reasons.”

While many, due to the information available regarding the technical issues with the spacecraft, disregarded the accusations made by both Musk and President Trump, Butch Wilmore himself has seemingly offered support to their claims.

As reported by Ars Technica, Wilmore was joined by Williams and Nick Hague in a press conference where, upon being asked whether Musk made an offer to bring them home last year, he had this to say:

“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual,” adding that he “believes” Musk.

While that might seem quite cut and dry in offering a clear contradiction to the other previous information, it appears to not be as simple as it might initially seem.

Shortly after this bold statement Wilmore added: “We have no information on that, though, whatsoever; what was offered, what was not offered; who it was offered to, how that process went.”

Butch Wilmore has seemingly both confirmed and denied Musk’s accusations regarding the Biden administration (YouTube/NASA Video)

Additionally, earlier on in the press conference he indicated: “From my standpoint, politics is not playing into this at all.”

These clashing statements don’t quite paint the clear picture that some supporters of Trump and Musk are wanting it to be, and instead it reads as if Wilmore is simply expressing his support for the current administration and has no or little information regarding the decision making process behind the scenes.

He did illustrate that politics are a “part of life” and that they are “on board with it” though, adding later on: “I don’t know all those details, and I don’t think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has suggested deorbiting the International Space Station within two years.

NASA has plans to crash the space station into the Pacific Ocean, which they aim to be done by the end of this decade, of which they have awarded a contract for $843 million to Musk’s SpaceX.

Although NASA have stated they want to deorbit the space station by the end of the decade, Musk is now suggesting he would like to deorbit the ISS within as little as two years.

As part of the mission to bring down the ISS, SpaceX will be developing a U.S. Deorbit vehicle that will be used to crash the space station back down to earth, where following a controlled re-entry, it should land safely in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

While Musk has publicly stated that the International Space Station “has very little incremental utility.” stranded NASA astronaut Sunita Williams disagrees, claiming now isn’t the right time to get rid of the space station. Not only has Williams argued that the ISS shouldn’t be destroyed before 2030, she has also stated, “This place is ticking. It’s just really amazing. So I would say we’re actually in our prime right now.”.

Captain Sunita Williams (Joe Scarnici / Getty)

Contrary to Musk’s statement about the station having served its purpose, Williams has suggested that NASA would be wasting tax payers money by not allowing the “word class science that this laboratory is capable of” to continue.

Suntia Williams is one of two stranded NASA astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station. Williams and her fellow stranded astronaut Butch Wilmore were delayed in retuning home to earth following a technical glitch in Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but are expected to finally return home at the end of this month.

NASA’s Boeing CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft (Paul Hennessy / Getty)

The ISS was originally launched back in November 1998 and has since grown to an impressive 16 modules, weighing more than a whopping 4,30,000 kg.

Due to the sheer size of the space station, the mission requires careful planning and precision to make sure the stations orbit is slowly lowered and steered away from populated areas and into the ocean.

Elon Musk might be looking to take the space station out of commission within the next two years, but with so much planning and development required to pull it off, and Suntia Williams calling for him to hold off, there’s every chance the ISS could still be up in space until closer to NASA’s 2030 deadline.

Ontario has cancelled its $100 million Starlink contract in response to Trump’s tariffs.

Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, announced that the province has scrapped its contract with Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink.

The move was in retaliation to President Donald Trump’s trade measures against Canada, reported CBC.

Ford also announced that all US-based companies would be banned from future provincial contracts, accusing Trump of ‘choosing chaos’ over cooperation.

“It’s done, it’s gone,” Ford said, referring to the contract. “We won’t award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country.”

The decision follows the US President’s announcement of new ‘catastrophic’ tariffs on Canadian exports, including 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports and 10 percent tariffs on Canadian energy.

Bill Pugliano / Stringer / Getty

The 60-year-old justified the move by claiming Canada, Mexico and China should be held ‘accountable for their promises to halt the flood of poisonous drugs into the US.’ However, the tariffs have been delayed for a second time due to uncertainty and blowback from financial markets.

In a comment that further strained relations, Trump suggested that the only way for Canada to avoid tariffs was to become America’s 51st state.

Ford didn’t take kindly to the remark. In response, he threatened to cut off power to 1.5 million US customers and placed a 25% surcharge on electricity exports to New York, Michigan and Minnesota.

Ford said: “This is not the outcome anyone wanted. “We could have poured our efforts into making Canada and the US the two richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the planet. Unfortunately, one man — President Trump — has chosen chaos instead.”

SpaceX‘s subsidiary Starlink signed a contract with Ontario in November 2023 to provide high-speed internet to 15,000 rural and remote homes by summer 2025.

Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario / Steve Russell / Contributor / Getty

SpaceX is one of Musk’s many tech ventures, alongside his responsibilities of serving as a close ally of Trump and heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The decision to pull the plug has raised concerns for remote communities that struggle with internet access.

Sol Mamakwa, the Ontario NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, said the cancellation could leave many northern communities with even fewer options for connectivity.

“My initial post of it was essentially to the people that messaged me from the north in my riding on how it’s going to impact them,” Mamakwa said, adding that those who have already subscribed to Starlink will not be affected.

Elsewhere, Ontario’s liquor wholesaler and retailer has confirmed it will no longer buy or sell US alcohol. If the trade war continues, the province fears it could lead to a disaster in many Ontario industries, like auto manufacturing and steel production.

“We also need to be ready to dig in for a long fight,” Ford pointed out. “We need to be ready to escalate using every tool in our tool kit.”

Senator Mark Kelly has issued a scathing response to Elon Musk’s comment labeling him a ‘traitor’ following a visit to Ukraine.

It looks like Elon Musk could do with a hand making friends, and after branding ESA astronaut Andreas Morgensen an ‘idiot’, the world’s richest man has now painted a target on Senator Mark Kelly‘s back. The Democrat and former US navy pilot has come under fire from Musk after he visited Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian officials and wounded service members.

Kelly is the Democrat senator for Arizona, making his third visit to the Ukrainian capital since 2023 in early March. This didn’t sit well with Musk, and in the aftermath of a disastrous White House visit from President Volodymyr Zelensky, tensions are running high.

Musk notably called Zelensky ‘evil’ and claimed the President was looking for a ‘forever war’.

Posting on X following his latest visit, Kelly said: “What I saw proved to me we can’t give up on the Ukrainian people.”

There’s a continued backlash to Musk’s role in the government (Kayla Bartkowski / Staff / Getty)

He goes against what President Donald Trump is currently pushing for, with Kelly calling for security guarantees in any peace deal that’s agreed: “Everyone wants this war to end, but any agreement has to protect Ukraine’s security and can’t be a giveaway to Putin.”

Kelly then called Russian President Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’, saying he regularly targets hospitals: “If Putin gains ground, he won’t agree to a ceasefire and will eventually threaten a NATO ally, and this puts American troops and the American people at risk.”

Although Kelly goes on to explain why it’s ‘important’ that we stand with Ukraine, it seems not everyone agrees. Responding to the post, Musk simply replied: “You are a traitor.”

It didn’t take Kelly long to fire back his own barbs, also replying on X as he said: “Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”

Kelly doubled down on his beef with Musk, telling reporters on Capitol Hill: “He’s slashed and burned the federal government to make room for a giant tax cut for billionaires like himself. I’ve sworn an oath to this country, I’ve flown in combat, I served in the Navy for 25 years.

“It appears to me the oath that Elon Musk stands by is the oath to billionaires to make their lives easier, not the American people, not veterans. He’s not a serious guy. He should go back to building rockets.”

This isn’t the first time Kelly and Musk have had a difference in opinion. Kelly and his twin brother, Scott, are both retired astronauts and were less than impressed about Musk’s attack on Morgensen. At the time, the senator wrote: “Hey @ElonMusk, when you finally get the nerve to climb into a rocket ship, come talk to the three of us.”

We’re sure it won’t be long until Musk response to Kelly’s jibe about the tech mogul sticking to making rockets.