Last month, Elon Musk called a former SpaceX pilot "retarded" for refuting the billionaire's claim that the two astronauts at the International Space Station were "abandoned" (which the astronauts themselves deny). He also boasted that SpaceX could bring them down in a jiff.
Then yesterday happened — or didn't happen, as it were — when SpaceX's flight to the ISS was delayed due to a launch pad problem. From AP:
A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NASA's two stuck astronauts.
Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket's planned evening liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. As the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to release one of the two arms clamping the rocket to its support structure. This structure needs to tilt back right before liftoff.
Already strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. SpaceX canceled for the day. Officials later said the launch was off until at least Friday.
"You are fully retarded. SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago," the high-strung Tesla CEO wrote in February to the Danish astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, via Rolling Stone. "I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons."
And then, as if looking into his own mirrorshade sunglasses, he ended his tantrum with one word: "Idiot."
Previously: Astronaut on space station captures astonishing image of massive skull peering up from volcanic pit on Earth
