As childish as their public sparring appears, the consequences are tangible – and deserve to be widely celebrated.
In his spare time he has been playing with his rocket on his ranch in Texas – a ranch so big that it includes a spaceport.
He is also building a giant, indestructible clock inside a nearby mountain that will chime once a millennium (it’s supposed to encourage long-term thinking).
For the past year, however, Musk has been preoccupied with landing a rocket on a giant, autonomous sea-going barge.
Because in their one-upmanship, the duelling billionaires are bringing down the cost of access to space.
Recovering the first stage and reusing it, say, nine times could therefore cut the cost of a launch by two-thirds.
If rich men want to compete to make space travel cheaper, that’s great.
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