Why would Elon Musk pivot from Mars to the Moon all of a sudden? (arstechnica.com)

why would he give up on FSD? they're both impossible problems with today's tech. maybe it was deliberate overreach, maybe hubris; maybe some of both.

Assuming he was ever sincere about how he'd "like to die on Mars, just not on impact", the SpaceX development cycle is to throw lots of cheap hardware at the problem to find problems quickly. "Quickly" isn't possible when the launch windows only come every two years. (Short journey times and always-open launch windows for returns are among the reasons that, if I had his wealth and influence, I'd have always gone for the Moon over Mars).

Bluntly though, the lack of any visible progress with SpaceX-branded Sabatier machines already had me suspicious.

I feel it's time to seriously consider research on something else than chemical rockets for space exploration.

Also in the news A A Milne pivots from Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh.

Keep changing the goalpost; be constantly in the news; mint billions. Good strategy

Some of you are trying to ascribe intent to a ketamine powered Ouija board. Why did he think he was going to Mars in the first place? Why did he ignore his obligation to build a lunar lander, having been paid to do that? Did he ask any women for a list of requirements to get pregnant and deliver babies on Mars, or is the launch window latency a surprising problem? Folks are being way too kind in ignoring that lot of what Elon throws out there gets backfilled by his cult following and really has had no serious thought behind it from the beginning.

They can get paid for the moon stuff.