“There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars.”…

Summary

Elon Musk has called for the International Space Station (ISS) to be deorbited “as soon as possible,” suggesting a two-year timeline instead of NASA’s planned 2030 retirement.

His statement has sparked political backlash, particularly from Sen. Ted Cruz, who supports the ISS. NASA and international partners prefer keeping the ISS operational.

Musk’s push appears tied to redirecting NASA funding toward Mars exploration, potentially challenging plans for private space stations.

This move could further centralize US space efforts around SpaceX, impacting commercial space competition.

    • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
      3·
      2 hours ago

      Orders of magnitude more competent. He could’ve come in there with his own accounting system and used bugs as an excuse for why the money wasn’t going where it was meant to. He could just deny and delay until people stop caring

      Or if he was really competent, he could’ve gotten a list of all funding and put together his own teams to take over the contracts. Trump could’ve awarded contracts to musk left and right in the name of savings, and if he failed to deliver, oops.

      The public wouldn’t even know he’s skimming off the top of government spending until it’s too late - he could build a business empire like that, even force through the payment platform he wants so bad by making everyone submit taxes through it

      The game is rigged, and right now he’s sitting at the controls… He could’ve slowly entrenched himself while manufacturing problems to sell the solution, he could’ve created opportunities to stealthily invade every corner of our lives for power… Instead he’s basically just smashing the panel for the copper