Are Elon Musk and NASA Fighting Over Mars?

‘If Elon Musk brought the samples in the door right now I’d throw him a party out of my own money,’ NASA scientist said.

By Dan Bova Nov 02, 2016
Bloomberg | Getty

Speaking with reporters this week, NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen wanted to make one thing crystal clear: If Elon Musk’s SpaceX program can bring samples from Mars back to Earth before NASA can, the space agency would be more than happy with a second-place trophy.

“If Elon Musk brought the samples in the door right now I’d throw him a party out of my own money,” Zurbuchen said. (Knowing how much government employees typically make, that’s saying a lot.)

Related: How Billionaire Techpreneur Elon Musk Starts His Day

“I think that would be a huge success out of the strategies that were pursued by this administration of helping … the private industry to really grow capabilities that 10 years ago were not around,” he continued.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg Reacts to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 Explosion

Musk has not as yet publicly responded to NASA’s open door policy for the red planet. Who do you think will come home with a bathing suit filled with Martian sand first, the government or the billionaire tech wizard?

Speaking with reporters this week, NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen wanted to make one thing crystal clear: If Elon Musk’s SpaceX program can bring samples from Mars back to Earth before NASA can, the space agency would be more than happy with a second-place trophy.

“If Elon Musk brought the samples in the door right now I’d throw him a party out of my own money,” Zurbuchen said. (Knowing how much government employees typically make, that’s saying a lot.)

Related: How Billionaire Techpreneur Elon Musk Starts His Day

“I think that would be a huge success out of the strategies that were pursued by this administration of helping … the private industry to really grow capabilities that 10 years ago were not around,” he continued.

Related: Mark Zuckerberg Reacts to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 Explosion

Musk has not as yet publicly responded to NASA’s open door policy for the red planet. Who do you think will come home with a bathing suit filled with Martian sand first, the government or the billionaire tech wizard?

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account? Sign In

Dan Bova

VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com
Entrepreneur Staff
Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com and host of the How Success Happens podcast. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia Zone, Road & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little...

Related Content