A Meticulous Breakdown of Trump’s Determined...

The Starliner saga is lastly coming to an finish with the return of NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on Tuesday after a chronic 9 month keep in area. The story is essentially over, however that didn’t forestall President Donald Trump from taking one last stab on the former administration—a stab full of disinformation, exaggerations, and outright falsehoods.

Trump took to his social media platform Fact Social on Monday to as soon as once more take credit score for the plan to carry the Starliner astronauts again residence. The NASA duo, Wilmore and Williams, launched to the International Space Station on board Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on June 5, 2024. The mission was purported to final for eight days however NASA declared Starliner unsafe within the wake of alarming technical issues. The spacecraft returned home empty, with Wilmore and Williams assigned a pair of seats aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which lastly undocked from the ISS on Tuesday, March 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET.

Trump is disingenuously claiming to have facilitated a rescue mission to carry the astronauts residence, accusing the Biden administration of getting “deserted” them. The president’s newest social media diatribe on the return of Crew-9, posted to Truth Social on Monday, is a doozy, stuffed with nonsensical claims and obtrusive inaccuracies. We went via Trump’s put up, fact-checking the president’s varied claims and offering background and context to disclose the true story. The president opens:

I simply spoke with the Appearing Administrator of NASA, Janet Petro. She is coordinating our Group of extremely revered Scientists, Area Engineers, and varied different “geniuses,” who has agreed to let our Astronauts come residence lengthy previous to the 2 week interval initially authorized by NASA.

Because the newly appointed appearing administrator for NASA, we severely doubt that Janet Petro had a lot to do with this routine SpaceX mission. If something, she’s being a dutiful stooge, arduous at work dismantling the space agency from the within at her president’s behest. Trump pretends to respect the area company’s “Scientists, Area Engineers, and varied different ‘geniuses’” whilst Petro carries out his government orders—closing a number of places of work, shedding employees, and sure getting ready for much more cuts. With Petro because the appearing administrator, NASA has paused the work of a number of astrophysics and planetary science committees and eliminated references to key phrases, together with references to women in leadership, from its web sites.

Once more, as a routine SpaceX mission, NASA’s involvement is minimal, and it’s unclear which “geniuses” on the area company supposedly performed a task within the return. And on that word, placing “geniuses” in quotes distinctly appears like some form of backhanded burn.

That Trump additionally “simply spoke” with Petro, and that she agreed to “let our astronauts come residence,” is one more sick joke. This plan has been within the works since August of final 12 months. On September 28, 2024, NASA launched its Crew-9 mission with two astronauts as a substitute of the standard 4 (the 2 being NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov). The 2 empty seats have been reserved for Williams and Wilmore, who turned energetic and contributing members of Crew-9—even performing spacewalks that, for Williams, resulted in a brand new document.

Trump added that his so-called rescue mission is bringing the astronauts residence “lengthy previous to the 2 week interval initially authorized by NASA.” The astronauts are certainly returning residence two weeks sooner than deliberate—on the insistence of Trump—however what does this even imply? Lengthy prior?

Regardless, Trump could also be referring to technical points with the SpaceX Crew Dragon that delayed the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission. That meant Crew-9, together with Williams and Wilmore, couldn’t depart the ISS till Crew-10 arrived on the station someday in April. NASA ended up switching the Dragon automobile assigned to Crew-10, launching the mission on March 12 and returning the Crew-9 mission on March 17 after a quick handover interval. Technically, that did save the crew an extra two-week interval or so on board the ISS, however for astronauts who had been in area for greater than 9 months, an additional two weeks wouldn’t have made a lot of a distinction. Trump added:

Janet was nice. She stated, “Let’s carry them residence NOW, Sir!” — And I thanked her.

Once more, this sense of an pressing name to carry two astronauts again to Earth is pure fiction. The Starliner crew was by no means in want of a rescue mission—a Crew Dragon spacecraft—the one which launched in September—has been parked exterior the ISS this complete time! The crew might have left the station at any level since September. Nonetheless, doing so would have been extremely wasteful, as the opposite Crew-9 astronauts would have needed to be a part of them for the return journey. Six month stints aboard the ISS are commonplace.

As an alternative, Williams and Wilmore, as bona fide and absolutely educated NASA astronauts, have been greater than keen to imagine the obligations of the 2 astronauts who weren’t in a position to make the journey. This made sense for thus many causes—not least of which is the large price of launching astronauts to the ISS. It’s additionally price noting that at no level did Wilmore or Williams say they have been “deserted” or arduous accomplished by the scenario. Trump, nonetheless, is seemingly desirous to dwell out his doomsday movie fantasy. Extra from Trump:

This started after I requested Elon Musk to go up and get the deserted Astronauts, as a result of the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so. They shamefully forgot concerning the Astronauts, as a result of they thought-about it to be a really embarrassing occasion for them – One other factor I inherited from that failed group of incompetents.

The plan to carry the Starliner crew residence most actually didn’t start with Trump calling on his buddy Musk, CEO and proprietor of SpaceX, to retrieve the deserted astronauts. In February, Musk claimed that he had offered the Biden administration a plan to carry the 2 Starliner astronauts again sooner, with out ready for the Crew-9 mission to return from the ISS. Musk has offered no proof to again this declare.

This Starliner mission was the primary crewed flight of Boeing’s program to move astronauts to and from the ISS. It’s a non-public check flight, funded by NASA, with the area company counting on a industrial accomplice for its spaceflight endeavors. And but we have now Trump dumping on the previous administration, and never Boeing, for this epic, embarrassing fail. Extra from the president’s put up:

Elon and I’ve taken on the challenge, sending up the SpaceX Dragon, which has efficiently docked and, hopefully, whereas there’s all the time hazard concerned in such a mission, they may quickly be on their means residence — Taking off tomorrow, and touchdown on Wednesday. Actual occasions shall be offered to you. Security all the time comes first, and most requirements are being adhered to.

This “challenge” of which Trump speaks is most actually not of his or Musk’s doing, because the plan has been in place for months. And as famous, his solely contribution was to expedite the return residence by about two weeks. In actuality, that is Trumpian political theater and a chance to solid unwarranted shade onto the previous administration.

Trump additionally tried to intensify the drama of his so-called rescue mission by emphasizing “hazard,” despite the fact that these kind of crew missions to the ISS have lengthy been routine. Sure, there’s all the time danger with regards to spaceflight, however there’s nothing distinctive about this mission. Additionally, it’s touchdown on Tuesday. Trump closed his put up by saying:

However after eight lengthy months for a mission that was purported to be eight days, IT IS TIME. I sit up for seeing Butch and Suni, and thanks once more to NASA and Janet Petro!

Trump is, and can proceed to be, claiming that he rescued the Starliner astronauts, however the duo is unlikely to play into the president’s ploy to politicize the mission. “The phrases they stated, properly, that’s politics. I imply, that’s a part of life,” Wilmore instructed reporters throughout a latest dwell webcast from the ISS. “From my standpoint, politics has not performed into this in any respect.”

There you will have it—straight from the astronaut’s mouth. However that received’t cease Trump from seizing on Boeing’s troubled Starliner program as one more approach to take pictures at his predecessor.