Elon Musk mocks Biden after SpaceX completes first all-civilian flight
Elon Musk took a swipe at President Biden after the commander-in-chief failed to acknowledge SpaceX’s completion of its first all-civilian mission, in which four amateur astronauts orbited Earth for three days.
One of Musk’s 60 million Twitter followers pointed out that the White House and Biden had yet to comment on the mission, which successfully returned to Earth Saturday evening.
“The President of the United States has refused to even acknowledge the 4 newest American astronauts who helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for St. Jude,” user @rhensing wrote. “What’s your theory on why that is?”
“He’s still sleeping,” Musk responded Sunday afternoon.
As of Monday morning, the White House had yet to comment on the mission, dubbed “Inspiration4,” which marks the first time an all-civilian crew has ever made it to Earth’s orbit.
The crew — Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Dr. Sian Proctor — spent three days circling the planet at an altitude of more than 335 miles, about 75 miles higher than the International Space Station and on a level with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Isaacman, 38, an accomplished jet pilot, commanded the mission after reportedly paying $200 million for the privilege.
The billionaire donated two of the seats on the mission. The other went to Sembroski, who won a sweepstakes that raised $113 million in St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital donations.
The flight helped raise more than $200 million for St. Jude’s after a $50 million donation from Musk himself.
The Crew Dragon capsule that carried the quartet of astronauts splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Kennedy Space Center in Florida Saturday evening, shortly after 7 p.m. ET.
“On behalf of Space X, welcome home to planet Earth,” a dispatcher said to the crew on a live stream of the event.
“Your mission has shown the world that space is for all of us, and that everyday people can make extraordinary impacts on the world around them.”
Top officials from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, congratulated those involved in the mission.
SpaceX aerospace competitors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin, also congratulated the company on the mission.
It’s not the first time Musk has been at odds with the Biden administration. Last month, Musk said that no one from Tesla was invited to the White House for a summit on the future of electric cars even as rivals Ford, GM and Stellantis were present.
And more recently, Musk criticized a Biden administration proposal that would allocate an extra $4,500 in incentives to buyers of certain, new electric cars — but only if they’re made in the US by unionized workers.
Tesla’s factories are not union-represented and Musk has opposed unionization efforts in the past.
