Nearly everyone on Earth seems desperate to know how the true condition of American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams whose 8-day mission to the International Space Station has turned into a nearly 9-month zero-gravity slog.
Back in June, they launched onboard Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule to the ISS, but after the capsule encountered a cascade of thruster issues and helium leaks, NASA decided it was too risky to use the vessel to return them to Earth.
Wilmore and Williams have been stuck ever since. But ask NASA about what’s happening and you’ll hear the same dubious answer over and again - that Wilmore and Williams are not ‘stranded’ and that they are, in fact, grateful to be floating through space, more than 250 miles above their families, for a total of 274 days.
Well, as a former manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who worked inside the space agency for nearly a decade and is now an aerospace industry consultant, it is hard to believe a word that NASA says.
The agency lost its way a long time ago.
It was stunning to hear NASA’s Wilmore – a former Navy test pilot with three spaceflights under his belt – on Tuesday seemingly confirming SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s claim that the astronauts could have already been rescued had the mission not been blocked by Joe Biden’s White House.
'We offered to bring them back early, but the offer was rejected by the Biden administration,’ Musk said Monday on Joe Rogan's podcast.
The following day, Wilmore appeared to support Musk when asked about the claim, 'I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual.'
Wilmore’s teenage daughter, Daryn, was even more emphatic in a recently resurfaced social media post from February: 'There's a lot of politics, there's a lot of things that I'm not at liberty to say… but there's been issues. There's been negligence. And that's the reason why this has just kept getting delayed.'
While I don’t claim to know what was said behind closed doors at NASA – and even though I am no fan of Elon Musk who I believe is recklessly slashing away at the federal workforce - I wouldn’t doubt that his claims either.
No one on NASA’s payroll is permitted to freely speak their mind. But as a former employee of the agency, I can tell you what I believe it to be the truth: our astronauts are at risk and allegations of political corruption at NASA are not to be dismissed.
First, spaceflight is inherently dangerous. Every time a human blasts off on a rocket ship, we are daring the universe to kill them.
And even though Wilmore and Williams may indeed be happy to spend more time than they anticipated in service to their country, they want to return home.
At 274 days in zero-gravity, 59-year-old Williams is nearing the record for the oldest woman to spend the longest stretch in space.
Peggy Whitson spent 289 days in space when she was 56 years old. And Whitson knew what she was getting into.
Williams – while aware of the peril of her mission – likely didn’t expect to be in the running for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
We know that women face a higher threat of suffering from the effects of osteoporosis, a loss of bone density resulting in weak and brittle bones, than their male counterparts. And older women are at even greater risk.
When Williams returns to Earth, the physical toll that she paid will be studied.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14474299/NASA-astronauts-Elon-Musk-rescue-mission-JEFF-NOSANOV.html