Elon Musk apparently desires to take his assist for Ukraine to the following degree.
SpaceX has been sending terminals and different gear for its Starlink satellite-internet system to Ukraine, which has been struggling to keep up communications capabilities since being invaded by Russia on Feb. 24.
And on Monday (March 14), the corporate’s founder and CEO provided a easy solution to deliver that invasion to an finish.
Stay updates: Russia’s Ukraine invasion and space impacts
I hereby challengeВладимир Путин to single combatStakes are УкраїнаMarch 14, 2022
“I hereby problem Vladimir Putin to single fight. Stakes are Ukraine,” Musk tweeted on Monday, spelling out Putin’s title and Ukraine in Russian. (Translation supplied by Google.)
“Do you conform to this battle?” he requested (in Russian) in another tweet, which tagged @KremlinRussia_E, the official account of the Russian president.
That account has not responded, however certainly one of Musk’s recurring Twitter foils did chime in. Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Russia’s house company Roscosmos, tweeted a passage from “The Story of the Pope and his Employee Balda” by famed Russian poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837).
“You, little satan, are nonetheless younger/Compete with me weak/It will solely be a waste of time/Overtake my brother first,” the passage reads (translated from Russian by Google).
“I see you’re a powerful negotiator! Okay, you possibly can have 10% extra pay per view cash,” Musk replied in another Monday tweet, which featured a (presumably edited) picture of a shirtless Putin driving a bear and an image of Musk playing with a flamethrower.
“He may even deliver his bear,” Musk stated in yet another Monday tweet.
I see you’re a powerful negotiator!Okay, you possibly can have 10% extra pay per view cash. pic.twitter.com/Nrbkz9IsTPMarch 15, 2022
Musk is not any stranger to such tweaking and trolling, and he has sparred with Rogozin on this trend earlier than. For instance, again in April 2014, when Rogozin was Russia’s deputy prime minister, he remarked that the USA ought to use a trampoline to get their astronauts to the Worldwide House Station.
Rogozin was upset about financial sanctions imposed by the USA within the wake of Russia’s 2014 invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea, which had been a part of Ukraine. A few of these sanctions focused the Russian house business and a few focused people, including Rogozin himself. His remark referenced the truth that the U.S. was, on the time, utterly depending on Russian Soyuz autos for crewed journeys to and from orbit.
That dependence, which started when NASA retired its house shuttle fleet in July 2011, led to Might 2020, when SpaceX despatched two NASA astronauts to the house station on a check mission known as Demo-2. Shortly after that profitable launch, Musk had a comeback for Rogozin: “The trampoline is working!”
Mike Wall is the writer of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide concerning the seek for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
