No rocket science degree is required to understand that Elon Musk’s ego is as brittle as a Tesla’s frozen door handles in subzero temperatures. Musk’s notoriously volatile temper was on full display after a heated confrontation with an astronaut blasted him for an obvious falsehood.

Danish engineer and astronaut Andreas Mogensen engaged in a verbal spar with Musk on Friday, following the SpaceX founder’s interview with Fox News. During the interview, Musk asserted that two astronauts stranded in low orbit at the International Space Station (ISS) for over six months were abandoned due to political reasons.

What a lie. And from someone who complains about the lack of honesty from the mainstream media.

Immediately, Mogensen dismissed Musk’s claim, pointing out the fundamental dishonesty in his assertion. However, Musk took offense and resorted to rejoinders that were disparaging. In a public exchange, Musk The spaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I offered this directly to the Biden administration and they refused. Return was pushed back for political reasons. Idiot. Plans are for Butch and Suni to return on SpaceX Crew-9 in March, which will return them along with astronauts departing from the ISS.

The exact timeline and conditions of the astronauts’ stay and Musk’s unsubstantiated claim of political sabotage have proven to be lampooned. The ISS is relatively cramped, housing Saito Williams and Butch Wilmore for over six months. Their extended stay highlighted concerns among NASA staff regarding Musk’s management of government spending and SpaceX’s outsized influence over the ISS’s operational timeline. The Starliner space craft reported numerous technical issues that delayed their return.

We don’t feel abandoned, we don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded

We knew that we would probably find some things (wrong with Star liner) and we did, so that was not a surprise.

Williams’s statement directly addressed the accusations by Musk. Though initially touted as a 10 day mission, complications and extra issues extended their stay. These trades offs between, take the risk with Starliner and possibly jeopardize their safety or wait it out and complete the Crew-9 return mission’s mandate, Presumably a selection of waiting and returning with Crew-9 was the safe and prudent option. Though both NASA and Biden, along with fellow astronaut Yagsi have pointed out there is no linkage to politics and only scientific issues.

Government expenditure handling foreign contractors like SpaceX raises inherent conflicts of interest including the nature control their leader and their influence over contracting policy. Based on a contract worth $1 Marillion with SpaceX, the planning of the ISS decommission began 5 years early, pushed to 2027 as Musk firmly batted for an earlier decommission this year. Great debate ensues and NASA statement moonlights the arbitration on this matter primarily falling in the purview of the President. Incidentally, these executive decisions do not come without rapturous scrutiny and reviewing significant amounts government expenditure.

While Musk weighs in on outside government policy, Elon Musk endorsing revisiting mission kit of the Apollo style and Mars need closer scrutiny. This bolsters credibility of the Elon inclusive governance..

Nasa advice is to focus domestically on space rather than Mars orientiation. However insiders point out yet another optics on political influence, especially vying between Musk and Biden on a policy of space research. NASA recommended efforts to focus on planetary inhibition on Mars borne on the policy that the feasibility of Mars research against Mars to just come an exercise in grandeur at the expense of earth shots.

Critics allege the propensity for grandstanding, especially Musk’s recent figurehead positions driven opinion making. Indeed NASA’s distancing policy on explicitly articulating their contracts and keeping Musk at an arm’s distance denies Musk point blank involvement, albeit according to the contract Morgan Stanley has foreseen a 30 billion alignment to the ISS decommissioning expenses

Public scrutiny and review on fighting the Big Blue agenda lacks merit, points out Charles Schwab its a material issue of Musk controlled captive influence and NASA’s contribution should be an arms length audit following a different review method is critical.