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Tesla and SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk took on Joe Biden after the president responded mockingly to observations the billionaire made about the struggling economy.
Biden make his remarks on Thursday during a press conference after Musk announced that he would have to lay off a significant number of Tesla employees because the economy is slowing.
In a message was sent to Tesla staff titled “pause all hiring worldwide,” Reuters reported, adding that in the email, Musk said he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy in general before writing that he was eyeing a 10-percent cut in the electric vehicle maker’s workforce.
Biden was asked to comment about Musk’s observations during his presser.
“While Elon Musk is talking about that, Ford is increasing their investment, overwhelmingly. I think Ford is increasing the investment in building new electric vehicles. Six thousand employees — union employees, I might add, in the Midwest. The former Chrysler Corporation, they also are making similar investments in electric vehicles. Intel is adding 20,000 new jobs making computer chips,” Biden said before quipping: So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”
#BREAKING: President Biden responds to Elon Musk's "super bad feeling about" the US economy and wants to cut 10% of workforce: "Lots of luck on his trip to the moon." pic.twitter.com/QEYnPI6hlf
— Forbes (@Forbes) June 3, 2022
But it appears as though Musk is going to get the last laugh: On Friday, NASA announced it would be using SpaceX rockets for its next manned missions to return to the moon.
“Thanks Mr. President!” Musk noted in a tweet containing a press release from the U.S. space agency announcing the decision.
Thanks Mr President!https://t.co/dCcTQLsJTp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2022
The press release states:
NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.
The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth.
The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.
“With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate.
“This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars,” she added.
“This is an exciting time for NASA and especially the Artemis team,” Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., noted further.
“During the Apollo program, we proved that it is possible to do the seemingly impossible: land humans on the Moon. By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging NASA’s proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the Moon’s surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time,” she said.
The press release also discussed the SpaceX rocket: “SpaceX’s HLS Starship, designed to land on the Moon, leans on the company’s tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles. Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moonwalks. The Starship architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.”
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