What Next | Daily News and Analysis

How Elon Musk Colonized NASA

24 snips
Jul 31, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Franklin Foer, Staff writer at The Atlantic and author, explores how Obama-era policies fostered Elon Musk's dominance in space exploration. He dives into Musk's grand vision for Mars colonization, revealing how his childhood inspirations shaped these ambitions. Foer also critiques the shift in NASA's focus from scientific exploration to engineering, raising concerns about over-reliance on SpaceX. The conversation highlights the complex interplay of power, politics, and the privatization of space in today's world.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Elon Musk's Name Myth

  • Elon Musk's name myth links to Wernher von Braun's sci-fi novel imagining a technocratic Mars ruled by a benevolent dictator called Elon.
  • Musk embraces this myth, seeing himself as a visionary 'Elon' destined to lead Mars colonization.
INSIGHT

SpaceX's Government Monopoly

  • SpaceX became indispensable to the US government, holding $22 billion in contracts and providing unique space transport and services.
  • This monopoly reflects a shift where NASA is shaped more by private interests like Musk rather than scientific ambition.
INSIGHT

Apollo's Unique Government Drive

  • The Apollo program showed government capability when resourced with ambition, capturing global imagination with the moon landing.
  • This contrasted later NASA eras, which lacked clear direction and surrendered engineering expertise to contractors.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app