--- title: "Professor of Engineering Issues Brutal Dig at Elon Musk, Sparking Backlash" description: "Hot Topic Columbus Day is as good a day as any to argue about Elon Musk, everyone’s favorite \"eccentric\" billionaire CEO, notably of SpaceX and Tesla. Chris Combs, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), decided the time was right to draw the comparison between Musk and […]" date: "2022-10-11" modified: "2022-10-11" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-christopher-columbus-backlash" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "the digest" --- # Professor of Engineering Issues Brutal Dig at Elon Musk, Sparking Backlash ![UTSA engineering professor Chris Combs had dig at Elon Musk on Twitter by comparing him to Christopher Columbus. Many were not flattered by the comparison.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Hot Topic Columbus Day — now [increasingly known]() as Indigenous Peoples' Day, in recognition of the lives lost due to explorers like Christopher Columbus — is as good a day as any to argue about Elon Musk, everyone’s favorite eccentric billionaire CEO, notably of SpaceX and Tesla. Take Chris Combs, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), who decided the time was right to draw the comparison between Musk and the man of the day. "Elon Musk revolutionized space flight about as much as Christopher Columbus discovered America," Combs [tweeted]() on Monday. ## Horse's Mouth Comparing Musk to Columbus, and on Columbus Day, is about as an unholy intersection of politics as it gets, guaranteed to draw the ire of the ardent defenders of both men. Nonetheless, the tweet — which very well may be a bit of troll itself — has generated some interesting (and heated) discussions. "Did this tweet yield the expected clout points?" [replied]() one SpaceX aerospace engineer, Sid Chambers. *Ars Technica* senior space editor and [Musk biographer]() Eric Berger seemed to approach Combs' claim with a raised eyebrow. "Hot take from an endowed professor of engineering at the University of Texas, San Antonio," Berger [tweeted](). "Elon is a controversial figure, a lightning rod, especially on Twitter," he continued. "But saying SpaceX has not revolutionized spaceflight is silly. The whole industry is scrambling to catch up. Elon created SpaceX. He established the disruptive DNA of the company. He still runs it today." ## New World There's no denying SpaceX changed the industry, and it’d be remiss to downplay its numerous achievements. But that was never the only question at hand. Really, what should be asked is whether credit for those advances should be ascribed to Musk — or to the brilliant team of engineers and craftspeople he's assembled. Of course, if Musk's vision is as central to the spacefaring company's success as his advocates claim, there's an interesting discussion to be had outside of trading quickfire dunks on Twitter. Still, we'd be lying if we said watching those arguments unfold isn't amusing. **More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk Fans Horrified as He Suggests Ukraine Give in to Putin's Demands]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()