NASA's head says Elon Musk isn't really running SpaceX and that's relieving

The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, spoke with one of the heads of SpaceX over the weekend where he expressed concern about SpaceX's timelines being affected by Elon Musk's new interest in Twitter.

3

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson met with SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell, who has been at the company since its inception in 2002 and has been an instrumental part in its growth and success. Shotwell is responsible for the day-to-day operations of SpaceX, and works closely with CEO Elon Musk to develop and implement long-term strategies.

Nelson is concerned about these strategies and the timelines matching up since Musk took over Twitter at the end of October, with the NASA Administrator asking Shotwell directly if Musk's Twitter involvement was going to affect SpaceX. Shotwell responded, "I assure you, it is not. You have nothing to worry about," according to a recount of the conversation from Nelson.

Notably, Nelson said this exchange between himself and Shotwell occurred on December 5, and it was overall very friendly as he knows that Shotwell is running SpaceX and not Musk.

3

Elon Musk

"I hugged her with a smile on my face, because I know she is running that thing. She's running SpaceX," Nelson said.

Furthermore, Nelson was asked if he has any concerns about SpaceX meeting deadlines, to which he replied, "No, I don't." For those that don't know, SpaceX recently won a NASA contract to return US astronauts back to the surface of the Moon, a part of NASA's Artemis 3 mission scheduled to take place at the end of 2025.