Oh, Elon.
Charley Gallay/Getty images
You’d think Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, would be a pro at identifying planets and astronomical bodies. You’d think.
But on Sunday, Musk sent out a tweet that said “OCCUPY MARS.”
Twitter users were quick to point out the (admittedly cool) image attached wasn’t Mars at all, but an image of the moon taken in 2018 during a lunar eclipse.
Musk admitted his own mistake, sending out laughing emoji and adding in, “Moon too.”
Needless to say, the goof entertained Musk’s many Twitter followers. Wrote Australian scientist Upulie Divisekera, “Hey Super Space Genius, that’s the moon in a total lunar eclipse.”
The hero who is going to colonize Mars doesn’t know what Mars looks like. Fantastic!
— Ed McCabe (@eddiemac3356) June 23, 2019
Re-delete your account
— Ｗ▲ＮＤ Σ ＲＩＮＧ🏴☠️ L Σ N S (@space_is_fizzy) June 24, 2019
Are we occupying Mars during a lunar eclipse or did you not realize that’s the moon?
— Dave Hogg (@stareagle) June 23, 2019
you would be so much more entertaining if you were fictional
— wooloovoo (@wehpudicabok) June 24, 2019
How could you jacked this up so bad? I mean, you have Mars and terraformed on your backdrop and you still posted the moon? I can see Tycho Crater.
— Steven Baumann (@StevenDJBaumann) June 24, 2019
Some made a connection between Musk’s moon-Mars confusion and a recent tweet from President Donald Trump, in which he said NASA should focus on Mars, adding, “of which the Moon is a part.”
For all of the money we are spending, NASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon – We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars (of which the Moon is a part), Defense and Science!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 7, 2019
Asked one Twitter user, “Um..are you intentionally making fun of our President? Cuz if you’re not, may I?”
Um..are you intentionally making fun of our President? Cuz if you’re not, may I? MoonMars!
— MDS (@Mds97402) June 23, 2019
I choose to believe that this is just amazingly subtle shade on the president. Disclaimer I own Tesla Stock.
— Ivan Orion (@UrUsoBu1) June 24, 2019
But maybe the best tweet made a Star Wars reference. “That’s no moon,” wrote a Twitter user going by Space Pirate. “No…wait…it is a moon.”
That’s no moon….no…wait…it is a moon.
— Space Pirate ✌🤟🤘 (@seanlconnelly) June 23, 2019