NASA's acting administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was at the receiving end of a series of insulting social media posts by Elon Musk after he suggested NASA may sideline SpaceX from its moon mission.
Musk, SpaceX's CEO, called Duffy "Sean Dummy" and accused him of having a "2 digit IQ" and posted sophomoric memes aimed at Duffy.
The NASA administrator announced on Monday that in NASA's journey to return astronauts to the moon, the agency might use moon landers from SpaceX competitors.
"Should someone whose biggest claim to fame is climbing trees be running America’s space program?" Musk asked in a post Tuesday morning, which he pinned to his X profile. (Duffy, a former member of Congress, is a world champion lumberjack speed climber.)
SpaceX won a $2.9 billion contract in 2021 to use its Starship rocket system to land two astronauts on the lunar surface for NASA's Artemis III mission, slated to launch in 2027.
Duffy claimed that Musk's company is lagging behind schedule and there's a risk of China sending their astronauts before the US.
China has already sent two robotic rovers to the lunar surface and conducted key tests of a new rocket that would be used for crewed moon missions.
Musk also responded to reporting from the Wall Street Journal that Musk ally Jared Isaacman may be back in the running to lead the agency.
Trump had pulled Isaacman's nomination for NASA administrator earlier this year, the same week Musk departed his role in Washington.
"Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!" Musk posted on Tuesday, as well as reposting others' praise for Isaacman.
