The explosion of SpaceX’s rocket Thursday night has sparked fears that NASA’s stranded astronauts could be stuck in space for even longer, or worse.
SpaceX has been tasked with finally bringing Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home from the International Space Station (ISS) later this month.
But the company’s failed Starship launch has led many to question if SpaceX can bring the astronauts back safely or even as early as March 19 as promised.
The wave of concern has swept social media, even though Starship is an entirely different spacecraft than the one that will bring Williams and Wilmore home this month.
‘Elon Musk’s SpaceX with another Starship explosion! FAA has to halt flights. This is the guy that wants to bring home the stranded astronauts…’ one X user posted.
Another user posted: ‘Let this Starship mission not be an omen to the Spacex mission to save the astronauts stranded in the ISS.’
While one user urged Musk to ‘quit before [he] hurts someone.’
However, experts told DailyMail.com that the Starship explosion is no reason to believe that Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which will carry the stranded astronauts home, will malfunction.
But Mike Pravica, a physics professor at the University of Nevada, expressed concerns that private spaceflight companies are ‘biting off much more than they can chew when it comes to something as complex and technical as space travel.’
SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded during its eighth flight test Thursday night. Though this rocket will not be used to bring the Starliner astronauts back to Earth, the incident has led many to question whether SpaceX technology is up to the task
The rocket launched at 5.30pm local time from the ‘Starbase’ in Boca Chica, Texas
‘As Elon Musk and Donald Trump appear to be defunding scientific research in America as well as higher education in science and technology, I am deeply worried about the future of space travel in the US,’ he said.
‘Particularly when it is being led by businessmen instead of scientists and engineers.’
Following last night’s launch, Starship spiraled out of control 10 minutes into the mission and blew up into millions of pieces, sparking flight diversions and air traffic chaos as debris fell from the sky.
‘Hope that doesn’t happen to the two stranded astronauts,’ another user shared in reference to a video that showed Starship disintegrating over the Caribbean.
Other Americans called on President Donald Trump and NASA to stop Musk, deeming him a ‘lunatic.’
Musk admitted on X that the Starship ‘failed’ during the flight test, saying: ‘But we learned a good amount in building the new ship design and the flight.’
The rocket launched at 5.30pm local time from the ‘Starbase’ in Boca Chica, Texas.
The booster ‘stuck the landing’ as it returned to Earth, slotting straight back into the ‘chopsticks’ as intended.
Thursday’s explosion was the second consecutive failure for Starship this year, marking a major setback for Musk’s rocket program
SpaceX is tasked with bringing Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore home from the ISS later this month. By the time they get back, they will have spent at least nine months in space
But just 10 minutes into a journey that was expected to take about an hour, the rocket started spiraling out of control as four of the six engines cut out.
‘Hey [POTUS]! You did see that [Elon Musk’s Starship] rocket blew up — AGAIN! Please don’t do our astronauts any of your favors. [NASA] stop this lunatic,’ an X user posted shortly after the mission failed.
But Bryan Schmidt, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University, told DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t believe there’s any reason to correlate the failure of Starship to any decreased likelihood in the success of the mission to bring our astronauts back from the ISS.’
Schmidt explained that the Dragon capsule’s safety and capabilities ‘have been proven repeatedly, which is the best sort of guarantee you can get in spaceflight.’
‘Going to space is an inherently dangerous activity and there will always be risk involved, but using a proven system and platform is the best way to mitigate risk.’
Williams and Wilmore launched to the ISS on June 5, 2024 for an eight-day stay.
But issues plagued their launch capsule, Boeing’s Starliner, before and after it docked on the orbiting lab. After months of deliberation, NASA called the capsule back to Earth without the crew.
Musk recently said he offered to bring them home six months ago, but the Biden Administration refused because it would’ve made Trump ‘look good’ during the 2024 presidential race.
In late January, President Trump said he told Musk to ‘go get’ Williams and Wilmore, who had been ‘virtually abandoned’ by the Biden administration.
Williams and Wilmore launched to the ISS on June 5, 2024 for an eight-day stay
At that time, SpaceX was already tasked with bringing the Starliner crew home.
But just two weeks after Trump’s statement, NASA made adjustments to allow Williams, Wilmore and the Crew-9 astronauts to depart from the ISS two weeks earlier than planned.
Although Thursday’s Starship explosion isn’t a good look for SpaceX, there isn’t any real evidence to suggest the Crew-9 Dragon capsule will malfunction.
Both Trump and Musk have expressed confidence in SpaceX’s ability to bring the Starliner astronauts back to Earth safely.
During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said that only a SpaceX spacecraft can bring the astronauts back to Earth.
‘There isn’t anyone else who can do it,’ he told Rogan. ‘The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is the only one that is considered safe enough to bring them back.’
SpaceX’s Dragon capsules have successfully carried nine astronaut crews to and from the ISS.
When Crew-8 returned from the ISS in October of last year, one astronaut was hospitalized overnight due to an undisclosed medical issue, but it’s unclear whether this issue was related to the return flight.
Aside from this incident, no astronauts have been harmed during Crew Dragon ISS missions to date.
