Elon Musk recommends that the International Space Station be deorbited ASAP
Elon Musk recommends that the International Space Station be deorbited ASAP
“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.
I hate the fact that anyone, anywhere, has to listen to what fElon's "thoughts" on anything are.
Conflict of interest much?
Don't pay for this thing that is for everyone and gets science research done, pay that money to me instead! I'm not a government employee, I just am when I'm telling you what to do!
I've said it for about a decade now and I'll continue to say it: Elmo is an incompetent scammer.
Jail him already. Had Trump not won, by his own words, he would have been in jail now. Oh the dreams.
Incompetent? How much more competent could one get at toppling a country and consuming all it's money?
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
As seen in the Ars comments, the Ars article is missing a bit of context.
Musk got into a tweet war with the commander of the space station over whether Suni and Butch’s extended stay on the ISS was political. Musk eventually called him a mentally challenged idiot and then followed that up with a call for the ISS to be deorbited ASAP.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/20/elon-musk-iss-deorbit-00205268
He didn't call him "mentally challenged idiot" he fully called him "retarded".
Well, THERES the context.
Just another cry session from Musk after he got called out for his bullshit.
Thanks, that makes this all worse. Giant man-baby gets put in his place by someone better than him and he can't handle it. So he breaks their toys.
Of course he wants any current or possible competition eliminated! Luckilly it's not up to him or even the USA.
It's the international space station. Not USA space station
I recommend that Elon Musk be deorbited ASAP
And by "deorbited" I mean "take away his Ketamine".
I recommend that he is orbited. And by that I mean orbited.
As a part of this deorbiting idea, I would suggest removing his orbitofrontal cortex. Although, with all the shit he is dribbling... I'm not so sure that he has one.
No no, don't take it away from him. In fact, he's been such a good boy lately, he deserves extra. A lot extra.
Counterproposal: Deorbit Trump and Musk ASAP.
Rapid, unscheduled disassembly.
Countercounterproposal: put them in orbit ASAP and keep them there.
Now, for legal purposes, let me say I'm not asking for or instructing anyone to do this. But at this point, I think Musk needs a visit from a Luigi-type stochastic terrorist. If one was about to kill oneself, and statistically, there'll be people who read this who are, consider taking out Musk before you go. You'll be a martyr and a celebrated hero across the internet. You'll also be giving a massive gift to humankind.
On a personal level, to anyone reading this: I'm sorry that we're at this spot, it sucks.
Know your roots!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_no_one_rid_me_of_this_turbulent_priest%3F?wprov=sfla1
And yes, we've got one foot in the grave and the other in a toilet.
Might as well fast track other countries leadership on space. Why not? Fuck Elon btw.
I can't remember but who was it that had the contract to deorbit the ISS? Oh yeah, Spaz-X
I can’t believe Musk was able to make me actively antagonistic about space exploration.
Nah space flight is cool! And my cousin who works at SpaceX is cool. Musk doesn't need to be synonymous with space exploration.
I mean, it's not just the US that provides funding for that or contributed components. Russia, various European countries, Japan and Canada, I believe, all have some level of funding.
kagis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station_programme
The ISS has been described as the most expensive single item ever constructed.[93] As of 2010, the total cost was US$150 billion. This includes NASA's budget of $58.7 billion ($89.73 billion in 2021 dollars) for the station from 1985 to 2015, Russia's $12 billion, Europe's $5 billion, Japan's $5 billion, Canada's $2 billion, and the cost of 36 shuttle flights to build the station, estimated at $1.4 billion each, or $50.4 billion in total.
Now, granted, Russia had already been talking about killing their support, maybe pulling their modules off to start a new space station for some time, so they're probably more than fine with that.
As of 2010, the total cost was US$150 billion.
Wow, Elon bought twitter at a third the cost. What an excellent deal he got. /s