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Although the upstart billionaire's SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch on Tuesday was seen as a landmark moment in space exploration, the reaction in Russia was more ambivalent.
"I don't know if this is a conspiracy or not, but in fact it's a very good trick," Roscosmos spokesman Igor Burenkov said about the launch in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Thursday.
Burenkov suggested that Musk had sent the Tesla Roadster into space as a "promotional act" timed ahead of the electric car company's board meeting this spring.
"The meeting is soon, so they need to adjust their business somehow. Things are bad for Tesla, after all. Everyone knows that," he said.
His conjecture was at least partly backed up Wednesday when Tesla posted is largest quartlerly loss in history for the last three months of 2017, CNN reported.
Burenkov reiterated Russia's plans to plant its flag on the moon by 2030 and vowed that Russia would have its own super-heavy launcher by 2028.
"No need to get upset. We have something to be proud of and we will have something to be proud of in the future," he told Ekho Moskvy.
Solar protons travel at 400kms/sec and far higher in a real CME. The first Apollo astros and USSR cosmos to orbit the moon were fried, so it was covered up as fires in capsule tests. It takes the Van Allen belts to protect the earth. Fitting them to a rocket will require some ingenuity!!! Asteroids may offer better protection, once hollowed out and placed into Mars and Earth crossing orbit....
In the meantime, the Sun will have turned Green and Venus will have caused chaos as set out in Exodus....