June 09, 2021

Looking for Elon


Looking for Elon

“I think he has already been born. I think he is already in school studying or in kindergarten. And of course, he is not alone. A great country will certainly appear.”

– Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos

 

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 5, Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin expressed certainty that the Russian Elon Musk is already somewhere out there. This comes weeks after Musk announced that Tesla may soon come to Russia.

In the Twitterverse, Musk and Rogozin seem to have warm relations. Rogozin suggested in 2014 that the US would be better off sending its astronauts to the International Space Station “using a trampoline.” In May 2020, Musk responded that “the trampoline is working,” noting his company’s success sending two NASA astronauts into orbit on the Crew Dragon spacecraft – but only after he (nearly) challenged Rogozin to a rap battle in 2019. SpaceX launched a red Tesla into orbit, and Roscosmos sent a red toy “Tesla” manned by a Rogozin cutout in emulation. If only we could all establish such a friendship – it can’t be rocket science!

 

 

 

 

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