‘Scorpions, maggot-covered strawberries, goat-eyeball martinis’: When Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos attended a dinner that cemented the iconic space rivalry

In the annals of space exploration, the rivalry between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos is nothing short of legendary. What began as a cordial introduction in 2004 would evolve into a fierce competition that would shape the future of space travel. The roots of this rivalry can be traced back to a stately dinner. The menu was the only thing more awkward than the space rivalry between the ‘boyish billionaires’. 

Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk, provided to Business Today, delivers a detailed account of the interactions between the two tech icons. Both Musk and Bezos shared a deep-seated passion for space, stemming from their childhood fascination with science fiction. Bezos, the Amazon billionaire, vividly recalls watching the Apollo 11 moon landing at the tender age of five, a moment that ignited his lifelong zeal for space exploration. This shared enthusiasm led them to embark on their respective space ventures, Blue Origin for Bezos and SpaceX for Musk.

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The book mentions that their initial encounter occurred in 2004 when Bezos visited SpaceX. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Musk, known for his intense demeanor, was perturbed that Bezos had not reciprocated with an invitation to see Blue Origin's factory in Seattle. Bezos swiftly rectified this, and a dinner was arranged where ideas flowed as freely as the wine.

Musk didn't hold back, cautioning Bezos about what he considered misguided approaches. Bezos, on the other hand, found Musk's confidence somewhat presumptuous, given that SpaceX had not yet successfully launched a rocket.

This interaction set the stage for a rivalry that would intensify over the years. Musk even asked Bezos to help with an Amazon review for his wife Justine's book. But he said he doesn’t tell Amazon what to do. This resulted in an abrupt response from Musk but Bezos did give a personal review from his end.

The rivalry reached new heights when SpaceX secured contracts from NASA to develop rockets for human missions to the International Space Station. The focus shifted to securing Cape Canaveral's iconic Pad 39A, a launch facility steeped in space history. Bezos, driven by both sentiment and ambition, entered the competition for the lease, leading to a bitter legal battle when SpaceX ultimately won.

Musk didn't mince words, ridiculing Blue Origin's rockets for their inability to break Earth's gravity. He famously quipped, "Frankly, I think we are more likely to discover unicorns dancing in the flame duct."

Bezos, undeterred, secured Pad 36 at Cape Canaveral, ensuring that the competition between these titans of industry would persist.

One common goal united them – reusable rockets. Bezos focused on the technicalities of soft landings, while Musk obsessively trimmed the weight of his rockets to make orbit achievable. He believed that "a fully reusable rocket is the difference between being a single-planet civilization and being a multiplanet one."

Both billionaires were then invited to a black-tie dinner of the century-old Explorers Club in New York City where the menu included adventurous items like scorpions, maggot-covered strawberries, goat-eyeball martinis, and whole alligators carved tableside.

Musk was given the President’s Award for successful launches. Bezos on the other hand received a medal for his work in recovering the engine of Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacecraft. However, just weeks after they shared the stage the famous space rivalry started taking root. 

Their rivalry extended to patent disputes, with Bezos securing a patent for sea landings, a move that irked Musk and escalated tensions. Eventually, the patent was canceled, but the rivalry continued to simmer. The rivalry took a new form in the year 2021 when SpaceX managed to beat Blue Origin for the contract to take NASA astronauts on the final left of a journey to the moon. Blue Origin even protested by posting its predictions about the mission using words like “Immensely complex” and “high risk”.  

Elon Musk and SpaceX responded by saying that Blue Origin “has not produced a single rocket or spacecraft capable of reaching orbit.” Musk’s supporters on Twitter were quick to side with him and ridicule Blue Origin. Musk later tweeted, “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol.”

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