The acting director of NASA and US Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, and Elon Musk, got into an online controversy over who should lead the space agency, a day after Duffy invited companies to compete against SpaceX for a moon landing mission.
Duffy told Fox News that he was seeking bids for the Artemis 3 lunar mission, which provides for the return of American astronauts to the Moon, due to SpaceX’s delays in the development of its Startship megarocket, a mission awarded to Musk’s company in 2021.
The dispute between the US space program and SpaceX, which maintain extensive financial ties, came to light after Musk responded on the social network X to reports that Duffy also wants to integrate NASA into the Department of Transportation.
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“The person responsible for the United States space program cannot have a 2-digit IQ,” Musk wrote, adding that: “Sean has said that NASA could benefit from being part of the Cabinet, perhaps even within the Department of Transportation, but he has never said that he wants to keep the job,” referring to a Wall Street Journal report that such a move could secure Duffy’s role at NASA.
Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
“I love the passion. The race to the Moon is ON,” Duffy said on
“Big companies shouldn’t be afraid of challenges,” Duffy added.
With information from Reuters
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