Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos posted an image of a turtle on Monday, tagging his space company Blue Origin, drawing a swift response from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Musk replied to Bezos’ post with “Turtle heading?” and added, “When it’s coming out slowly, but ferociously.”

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 9, 2026
pic.twitter.com/d0nvnvxVYR

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2026
When it’s coming out slowly, but ferociously

The exchange references the classic fable of the tortoise and the hare, where steady progress defeats overconfidence.

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The social media exchange came after Musk announced on Monday that SpaceX has shifted its primary focus from Mars to building a self-sustaining city on the Moon.

“For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years,” Musk wrote on X.

Musk explained that Mars missions are only possible every 26 months with a six-month travel time, while lunar missions can launch every 10 days with a two-day journey. “This means we can iterate much faster to complete a Moon city than a Mars city,” he said.

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The SpaceX CEO added that the company will still pursue Mars colonization beginning in five to seven years, but the Moon remains the “overriding priority” for “securing the future of civilization.”

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2026
For those unaware, SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years.

The mission of SpaceX remains the same: extend consciousness and life as we know it to…

The announcement marks a reversal from Musk’s January 2025 stance when he called the Moon “a distraction” and stated SpaceX was “going straight to Mars.”

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2025
No, we’re going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction.

Mass to orbit is the key metric, thereafter mass to Mars surface. The former needs to be in the megaton to orbit per year range to build a self-sustaining colony on Mars.