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Donald Trump and Elon Musk's falling out could have very negative impact on NASA and the US space program

Donald Trump and Elon Musk's falling out could have very negative impact on NASA and the US space program

As Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump traded increasingly acrimonious social media posts last week, space scientists such as Dr Simeon Barber looked on with particular concern.
"I was amazed and dismayed when I saw this unfolding," the senior research fellow at The Open University told 7.30.
Mr Trump and Mr Musk's social media spat started with a disagreement over the US president's so-called 'big beautiful' budget bill before it got personal and even featured claims about the Epstein files being bandied around.
But also, and crucially, contracts for Musk's SpaceX were in the president's crosshairs.
"The easiest way to save money in our Budget … is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
Mr Musk responded on X that SpaceX "will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately".
He later posted Dragon was safe and wouldn't be decommissioned — but the threat illustrated the stakes of the dispute for America's space program.
The Dragon capsule, developed with the help of government contr acts, is an important part of keeping the space station running.
SpaceX is the only US company capable right now of transporting crews to and from the space station, using its four-person Dragon capsules.
Boeing's Starliner capsule has flown astronauts only once; last year's test flight went so badly that the two NASA astronauts had to hitch a ride back to Earth via SpaceX in March, more than nine months after launching last June.
But it's not just getting cargo and crews to the space station. SpaceX also dominates the launch of US military and commercial satellites, accounting for 87 per cent of the American orbital launches in 2024.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has become a workhorse, with its boosters landing vertically — allowing them to be reused and significantly reducing launch costs.
And America's space strategy is increasingly focused on SpaceX's much larger Starship rocket.
"A lot of NASA's missions, the future planning, is starting to include using Starship," Dr Barber said.
"Putting humans on the moon again using Starship as lander, and Trump has also been talking about going to Mars, and Starship will be central to those plans as well."
Dr Barber says SpaceX has even more leverage due to a proposed 25 per cent cut to NASA's budget.
"That would make it smaller as an institution and more reliant on external partners and those would be coming from the commercial sector. And SpaceX was a big part of that," Dr Barber said.
Since Elon Musk posted a reprieve for the Dragon spacecraft, there's been no more word from Mr Trump about SpaceX government contracts.
Dr Barber hopes both sides have stepped back from the brink.
"International agencies collaborate to do space exploration. It's a big endeavour. Australia is looking at getting on board with the ISS. These things take decades to plan, and you need some kind of stable underpinnings and foundation to build upon.
"When that can all be knocked down with a few random tweets in half an hour, it really makes it difficult to plan for the future."
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Errol Musk says son Elon has ‘PTSD' as he lands in Moscow for meeting with far-right figures
Errol Musk says son Elon has ‘PTSD' as he lands in Moscow for meeting with far-right figures

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

Errol Musk says son Elon has ‘PTSD' as he lands in Moscow for meeting with far-right figures

While his son battles with the President of the United States, Errol Musk has landed in Moscow to mingle with the Kremlin's ideological vanguard. The 78-year-old father of Elon Musk is attending the Forum of the Future 2050, a far-right Russian conference hosted by the Tsargrad Institute and led by ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, according to local newspaper Kommersant. 'I am eager to meet everyone. As far as I know, Russians are among the most intelligent people on the planet. It would be foolish not to ask their opinion on all sorts of issues,' Musk Snr told Russian state media outlet TASS. The event includes panel sessions with titles like 'The Race for Mars' and 'The Battle for Hearts and Minds: The Ideology of Sovereign Russia.' Speakers include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, and state TV anchor Ekaterina Andreeva. Errol is a former South African engineer and politician who has previously expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, igniting theories about his son's alleged links to the superpower. But Errol has distanced himself from his son in recent years and told the public to ignore Elon's often erratic comments on world politics. Meanwhile Elon has called his father a 'terrible human being' and described him as being critical and verbally abusive during his childhood. Dad weighs in on Elon's meltdown Errol Musk claimed that his son lashed out at Donald Trump because he had developed 'PTSD' from several months in the spotlight. On top of being the figurehead for several major companies, Musk Jnr took it upon himself to 'rehabilitate' the US government from decades of bloat. But his father says he's made a massive mistake going against the US president, who was the most likely to come out on top once the dust settles. 'So at the moment, Elon is inclined to say that he's made a mistake,' he told Russian press after landing. 'Elon made a mistake, I think, but he's tired, he's stressed. 'Five months of continuous stress, continuous, continuous stress, stress, stress. 'And then in the end, it's just him and Trump left … They still don't know what to do, so they fight with each other until they can come to normal conditions. 'They've had five months at least of intense repair work, removing all the spurious opposition, all the crazies and so on. They've been under a lot of stress.' His father says the fact Trump's bill was pushed through while he was still in the process of DOGE-ing everything in sight rubbed Elon the wrong way. So much so that he started tweeting about his former ally's alleged links to Jeffery Epstein from his X account. 'Recently a new bill was put out — and Elon is still in the 'Let's get everything right' mode,' Errol continued. 'He said, 'No, we must not include in such a bill more of this Democrat stupid schemes and money for them, it's not right'. 'But unfortunately, he doesn't realise that in order to get their votes in the Senate and the Congress, Trump has to do that.…' Musk Snr: 'Foolish not to admire Putin' In April, Musk Snr told BBC Russia it 'would be foolish not to admire Putin,' whom he called 'a strong leader.' The elder Musk's trip to Moscow coincides with an increasingly fraught chapter in his son's public life. Elon Musk has entered open conflict with President Donald Trump, trading barbs with his former ally in an increasingly bizarre online brawl. After stepping down from his informal role as an adviser to Trump's administration last month, Elon has turned sharply critical of the president. At the same time, Elon's posture on the Ukraine war has grown closer to Moscow's messaging. Once hailed for deploying Starlink terminals to Ukraine, Elonhas since accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of losing popular support and claimed S military aid was fuelling a 'never-ending draft meat grinder'. Those remarks have earned him praise from Russian state media and certain Duma members. On June 6, Dmitry Novikov, deputy chair of Russia's foreign affairs committee, even floated the idea of granting Musk Jnr political asylum as rumours swirl over his future in the US. Hi company SpaceX holds contracts worth billions with NASA and the Pentagon, including a $1.8 billion deal to build a classified satellite system for US intelligence. While he has demonstrated he is pro-US, his shifting alignment, coupled with the symbolic presence of his father in Moscow, makes the situation all the more delicate for Washington's defence establishment.

Musk's dad says Trump row triggered by intense stress
Musk's dad says Trump row triggered by intense stress

The Advertiser

timean hour ago

  • The Advertiser

Musk's dad says Trump row triggered by intense stress

The row between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and the public battle between the US president and the billionaire donor needs to stop, Musk's father says. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public row with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should "in the heat of the moment". "They've had five months of intense stress," Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. "With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop." Asked how it would end, he said: "Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon." Neither the White House nor Musk could be reached for comment outside normal US business hours. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. "Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world," Musk's father said. "Sometimes you have to give and take." Speaking beside sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, Musk's father praised President Vladimir Putin as a "very stable and pleasant man". He accused "fake media" in the West of projecting "complete nonsense" about Russia and of casting it as an enemy. The row between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and the public battle between the US president and the billionaire donor needs to stop, Musk's father says. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public row with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should "in the heat of the moment". "They've had five months of intense stress," Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. "With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop." Asked how it would end, he said: "Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon." Neither the White House nor Musk could be reached for comment outside normal US business hours. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. "Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world," Musk's father said. "Sometimes you have to give and take." Speaking beside sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, Musk's father praised President Vladimir Putin as a "very stable and pleasant man". He accused "fake media" in the West of projecting "complete nonsense" about Russia and of casting it as an enemy. The row between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and the public battle between the US president and the billionaire donor needs to stop, Musk's father says. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public row with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should "in the heat of the moment". "They've had five months of intense stress," Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. "With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop." Asked how it would end, he said: "Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon." Neither the White House nor Musk could be reached for comment outside normal US business hours. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. "Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world," Musk's father said. "Sometimes you have to give and take." Speaking beside sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, Musk's father praised President Vladimir Putin as a "very stable and pleasant man". He accused "fake media" in the West of projecting "complete nonsense" about Russia and of casting it as an enemy. The row between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was triggered by months of intense stress on both sides, and the public battle between the US president and the billionaire donor needs to stop, Musk's father says. Trump and Musk began exchanging insults last week on social media, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing the president's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination". Asked whether he thought his son had made a mistake by engaging in a public row with the president, Errol Musk said people were sometimes unable to think as clearly as they should "in the heat of the moment". "They've had five months of intense stress," Musk told Reuters at a conference in Moscow organised by conservative Russian tycoons. "With all the opposition cleared and two people left in the arena, all they have ever done is get rid of everything and now they are trying to get rid of each other - well that has to stop." Asked how it would end, he said: "Oh, it will end on a good note - very soon." Neither the White House nor Musk could be reached for comment outside normal US business hours. Trump said on Saturday his relationship with Musk was over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk decided to fund US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the tax and spending bill. Musk bankrolled a large part of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. Musk's father told reporters he was standing by his son. "Elon is sticking to his principles but you cannot always stick to your principles in the real world," Musk's father said. "Sometimes you have to give and take." Speaking beside sanctioned Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, Musk's father praised President Vladimir Putin as a "very stable and pleasant man". He accused "fake media" in the West of projecting "complete nonsense" about Russia and of casting it as an enemy.

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