During a press conference at the White House, US President Joe Biden was asked about his attitude to Elon Musk and his impact on the country’s economy. The question is related to a recent report that Tesla is stopping hiring workers and will reduce staff by 10% due to Musk’s “very bad feeling” about the economy. President Joe Biden commented: “I wish him lots of luck on his journey to the Moon”.
It’s funny, but there is one small detail. Technically, a significant portion of SpaceX’s funding for returning people to the Moon comes from the Biden administration. SpaceX’s mission to the Moon is a key part of NASA’s Artemis mission, the space agency’s initiative to send the first woman and an African–American to the Moon’s surface. Artemis was previously the brainchild of the Donald Trump administration – it is one of the few programs that survived the transition of power.
In 2021, under Biden, NASA chose SpaceX to develop a new generation rocket called Starship as a lunar lander for Artemis. The agency allocated the company an additional USD 2.9 billion to adapt Starship to deliver people to the lunar surface and back. The first lunar landing mission is scheduled for 2025.
Thus, the Biden administration definitely hopes that SpaceX will be lucky with a flight to the Moon. Musk also did not linger with a simple and concise answer: “Thank you, Mr. President”.
Thanks Mr President!https://t.co/dCcTQLsJTp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2022
Earlier, NASA supported the creation of a second lunar lander for the Artemis program.
According to The Verge
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