As tensions escalate between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, a U.S. astronaut has drawn attention to a troubling reality amid the high-profile fallout.
Musk and Trump were once close allies, with the SpaceX founder previously appointed as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with streamlining federal budgets and eliminating wasteful spending.
Musk held the position until recently, but since his departure, the relationship between the two has taken a sharp turn for the worse.
The feud appears to have been triggered by Musk’s sharp criticism of Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping piece of legislation that includes controversial provisions such as eliminating taxes on Social Security, overtime, and tips.
The controversial legislation was passed by the House of Republicans at the end of May and is now on its way to the Senate.
Musk had since made his feelings about the bill very clear and branded it an ‘abomination’.
Musk and Trump’s bromance is well and truly over… (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Hitting back, Trump said he was ‘disappointed’ in the tech mogul and insisted that Musk knew the ins-and-outs of the bill before his departure from the administration – which Musk denied.
And the very public fallout has escalated even further from that point.
Since, Musk has not only accused Trump of being named in Jeffrey Epstein’s files – claims which The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has since dismissed – but the tech billionaire also threatened to retire SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which transports cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
This could have a detrimental impact on the current NASA crew in space – essentially leaving them stranded 250 miles from Earth.
NASA responded to Musk’s tweet in a statement to the BBC, where they said: “NASA will continue to execute upon the president’s vision for the future of space. We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the president’s objectives in space are met.”
Meanwhile, astronaut and engineer Emily Calandrelli – who was aboard BlueOrigin’s November space flight – has since taken to Instagram to share her thoughts on the situation, outlining the worrying reality.
Emily Calandrelli has detailed what Musk’s threat could look like for astronauts (YouTube/EmilyCalandrelli)
“This is tweet is ROCKING the space industry right now,” Calandrelli wrote, quoting Musk’s threat: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”
Prior to Musk’s tweet, Trump has initially posted to Truth Social: “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”
Calandrelli went on to explain: “Terminating Musk’s contracts would mean the end of the SpaceX taxi (Dragon) to the ISS (currently the only ride we have for astronauts).”
This lead to a whole host of unanswered questions, as Calandrelli asked: “Will NASA decommission the ISS sooner rather than later?”
Musk was awarded a $843 million contract by NASA to help decommission the ISS in late 2030.
Calandrelli continued: “Will they doubly invest in Boeing to try to get Starliner working as an ISS taxi? Or is this just a mantrum (man tantrum) and when they cool off they’ll say ‘just kidding! I didn’t mean it!'”
Turns out, Calendrelli wasn’t wrong with her final thought.
Just hours after his rash announcement, Musk replied to an X user urging him to take a step back and ‘cool off for a couple of days,’ with a simple: “Good advice. OK, we won’t decommission Dragon.”
Crisis averted – at least for now.
