Diogenes
Nemo me impune lacessit
"To the rescue" is an idiomatic phrase. Didn't your dead cat tell you that?
SpaceX is not technically on a "rescue mission" in the dramatic sense that term might imply, but it is currently involved in a mission to bring two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, back to Earth after an extended stay on the International Space Station (ISS). These astronauts have been aboard the ISS since June 2024, far longer than their originally planned eight-day mission, due to issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was deemed too risky for their return.
On March 14, 2025, SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-10 mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts to the ISS. This mission, part of NASA's regular crew rotation, will enable Wilmore and Williams—along with two other astronauts from the Crew-9 mission—to return home in a SpaceX Dragon capsule that has been docked at the ISS since September 2024. The Crew-10 team is expected to arrive at the ISS late on March 15, 2025, with Wilmore and Williams slated to depart no earlier than March 19, 2025.
@Grok
Elon Musk's space projects, primarily through SpaceX, have been funded by a combination of private investment and government contracts.
Musk initially invested a significant portion of his own money—around $100 million—into SpaceX, which he earned from the sales of earlier ventures like Zip2 and PayPal. Other private investors have also contributed heavily, with SpaceX raising billions in equity funding over the years. For example, by 2020, the company had raised over $6 billion from private sources.
On the government side, SpaceX has secured substantial contracts from NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. Since 2008, NASA has awarded SpaceX contracts worth billions, including about $14.6 billion for missions like cargo deliveries to the International Space Station and the Artemis lunar program. The Pentagon has also chipped in, with SpaceX receiving over $5 billion in defense contracts, such as those for the National Security Space Launch program. These contracts don’t fund SpaceX’s core operations or Musk’s personal wealth directly but pay for specific services and projects, like launching satellites or developing lunar landers.
So, Musk’s "space toys" are paid for by his own cash, private investors, and taxpayer-funded government contracts—though the exact split depends on the project. Starship, for instance, has been largely driven by private funds, with some NASA support tied to lunar goals. It’s a mix, not a single sugar daddy.
@Grok
