SpaceX founder and billionaire Elon Musk made history today by launching his Falcon 9 rocket and landing the first stage on earth -- the equivalent of launching a pencil over the Empire State Building and landing it in a shoebox back on the ground, in the words of one expert.
It was an enormous victory, a moment of history and elation for all involved.
Long exposure of launch, re-entry, and landing burns pic.twitter.com/Vw1ZJAtvhy— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 22, 2015
HOLY SHIT pic.twitter.com/ikdRLVDeO1— Miriam Kramer (@mirikramer) December 22, 2015
What a time to be alive.— Jay Yarow (@jyarow) December 22, 2015
But was it good enough for Musk's rival Jeff Bezos?
It was not.
Bezos showed terrible sportsmanship by waiting barely half an hour before tweeting at Musk's company with some shade. By way of context, Bezos is locked an intense rocket-measuring contest with Musk and still smarting from some insults Musk lobbed his way last month.
Congrats @SpaceX on landing Falcon's suborbital booster stage. Welcome to the club!— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 22, 2015
There are actually two putdowns in fewer than 140 characters in that tweet, testifying to Bezos's love of efficiency.
The most obvious is, of course, "welcome to the club," which reminds Musk that Bezos first landed a rocket back on earth last month -- even though Bezos's rocket did not go as high as Musk's did. Bezos also launched his rocket in secret, only publicizing it when it was successful, while Musk did it publicly, risking public failure (but of course, getting a victory).
The second, more subtle Bezos putdown is "suborbital." Space is thought to start at 100 km above the Earth. If you get there while going at 8 km/second, you're orbital. If you're not, you're suborbital, which is just a little less impressive. To billionaires who have sunk millions of dollars into achieving the dream of private space travel, these distinctions matter.
Bezos's rocket launch last month was suborbital, which Musk needled him about last month.
But Bezos needling back didn't look cool and fun. At a moment of historical achievement for all of humanity, Bezos's tweet looked petty and small, and all too many were happy to put Bezos in his place.
@JeffBezos @SpaceX enough said... pic.twitter.com/DbRGxcVyCv— Bryan Meister (@MeisterBryan) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @SpaceX what club ? This was a million times more difficult than what u did— Avionica (@avionicamusica) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @SpaceX This is @elonmusk right now pic.twitter.com/MAQjxZ87S9— Xero Some (@xerosome) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @SpaceX I can't even imagine what went through your head before typing this. Just...Stop. You did cool stuff. Don't ruin that.— Josh Adams (@knewter) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos this is a joke right? I know you're smarter than this. We all do. Your launch was great but not like this. Good job though— Matt Anglero (@MattAnglero) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @planet4589 @SpaceX Thats total crap. SpaceX's rocket went so much further than yours. Not the same club. A total different class— Nick Weiner (@butrelevant) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @SpaceX Cheap shot. Apples and oranges here, saying otherwise cheapens your own achievement.— Ted Everett (@ZedsTed) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos @SpaceX To be fair they landed a real rocket— Alaa Murad (@alaamurad) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos You're in the space tourism business, dude. Settle down.— Daniel Lewis (@danrlewis) December 22, 2015
@JeffBezos bruh I'm happy for you but y'all went straight up and then straight down.— Alex Berish (@AlexBerish) December 22, 2015
And perhaps the most devastating response in its quiet disappointment:
@jeffbezos You're better than that. @spacex— Gene Hoffman (@hoffmang) December 22, 2015