Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk seems to really like two things: challenging his competitors and planning humanity’s conquest of Mars. Naturally, given the chance to do both, Musk stepped up and delivered a succinct rebuttal to his opponent.
On Thursday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg appeared on CNBC and discussed the new rocket the company has developed that will be assembled soon and also offered a claim he’s made in the past. “Eventually we’re going to go to Mars and I firmly believe the first person that sets foot on Mars will get there on a Boeing rocket,” Muilenburg said.
After the quote was picked up by other media outlets and made its way onto social media, Musk noticed and issued a simple (Nike-esque) challenge to Muilenburg and Boeing: “Do it.”
Do it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2017
The challenge did not go unnoticed by the engineers over at NASA, who are working on their own trips to the red planet.
In September, Musk announced the BFR, a rocket that Musk predicts will take manned missions to Mars as soon as 2024. Along with the BFR, Musk plans to construct a lunar base to facilitate travel between Earth and Mars.
Whether SpaceX or Boeing gets to Mars first, the 21st century’s answer to the Space Race is on.
(Via Inverse)