Elon Musk is a genius, but this Harvard professor managed to roast SpaceX and Tesla bosses because of his own tweets. Elon Musk was 'rebuked' for space science by a Harvard astronomer named Jonathan McDowell.
He corrected Musk's tweet about the Tesla Roadster he launched into orbit in early 2018.
"My car is currently orbiting Mars," Musk tweeted.
My car is currently orbiting Mars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2021
McDowell, who is working at Harvard University's Center for Astrophysics, will not allow that mistake. He corrected Musk about what was actually orbiting his car.
"Well, no," McDowell tweeted in response.
"It orbits the Sun, and sometimes passes through the orbit of Mars. It's not the same thing."
Well, no. It's orbiting the Sun, and occasionally passes the orbit of Mars. Not the same thing.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) December 4, 2021
Elon could have easily commented "my car flew past Mars" and been correct enough (and equally funny). Getting into Mars orbit is much harder, would have been a much bigger achievement and he's repeatedly blurred the difference. Hence worth clarifying.
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) December 4, 2021
Quoted from Futurism, it's hard to say exactly why Musk made the tweet. Maybe it's a simplification he thinks his Twitter followers can understand better or maybe he's trolling, as usual.
So... well, it's up to Elon Musk.