Musk Launch SpaceX After Russian Engineer Spat On His Shoes

In her recent memoir, former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver described how Elon Musk was inspired to start developing his own rockets. After being spat on by a Russian engineer in 2001, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk decided to create his own space enterprise, according to Grace Kay for Business Insider.

Photo Insert: SpaceX co-founder Jim Cantrell claimed that when Musk took him to Moscow to clinch a deal to acquire space rockets for a future trip to carry mice or plants to Mars, the Russians mistreated him.

Garver discussed the incident in his book "Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age," which was released on June 21. "This act so completely offended Elon that he decided on the flight home that he would start his own rocket company to compete with them," Garver wrote.

"If Helen of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, this was the spit that launched a thousand spaceships." Garver writes in her book about the commercialization of the US space sector during her tenure as NASA's Deputy Administrator during the Obama administration.

Despite NASA's urge to maintain production in-house, the book illustrates Garver's efforts to make space flight more affordable.

The former NASA officer is not the only person to speak out about the incident. Last month, SpaceX co-founder Jim Cantrell claimed that when Musk took him to Moscow to clinch a deal to acquire space rockets for a future trip to carry mice or plants to Mars, the Russians mistreated him.

"The chief designer was getting very agitated as Elon spoke," Cantrell recalled in a May Channel 4 program, "The chief designer got tired of listening to him and he spit on our shoes," he added.

Cantrell believes the Russians viewed Musk's casual clothes as a "sign of disrespect." Garver said in her book that Musk's "disrupter mentality and lack of deference toward the traditional industry" had a similar impact on NASA and White House staffers.

Cantrell characterized the event similarly in Ashlee Vance's biography of Musk, "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," saying the Russians treated Musk rudely during many talks in Moscow.

According to the biography, the Russians were more interested in small conversation and sipping beverages, whereas Musk was eager to get down to business.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic