Elon Tweet Meme

2019Viral tweet / social media gaffedead

Also known as: Occupy Mars Tweet · Elon Musk Moon Tweet

The Elon Tweet Meme refers to the viral reaction after Elon Musk tweeted an "Occupy Mars" image on June 23, 2019, that actually showed a photograph of the moon during a lunar eclipse rather than Mars. The SpaceX CEO's mix-up between Earth's moon and the red planet sparked widespread mockery on Twitter, with users roasting the billionaire for not recognizing basic celestial bodies despite running a space company.

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Overview

The meme centers on Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, posting an image captioned "Occupy Mars" to his Twitter account. The problem: the image was a photograph of the moon taken during the July 2018 lunar eclipse, which gave it a reddish hue resembling Mars1. The blood moon coloring apparently fooled Musk into thinking it was the red planet, which made the mistake especially funny given that he literally runs a rocket company with Mars colonization as its stated goal2.

The image itself predates Musk's tweet. On January 22, 2019, Twitter user @dodiewill2 tweeted the "Occupy Mars" graphic (originally from the website TeeRepublic) at Musk, asking him to speed up Mars colonization plans3. The image featured the words "Occupy Mars" overlaid on a photo of a blood moon from a 2018 lunar eclipse.

Five months later, on June 23, 2019, Musk tweeted the same image without any caption3. The post pulled massive engagement: over 138,000 likes, 16,000 retweets, and 3,700 comments within 24 hours3. The tweet came shortly after Musk had posted about "accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy"1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Key People
Elon Musk, @dodiewill2, @flcnhvy
Date
2019

The image itself predates Musk's tweet. On January 22, 2019, Twitter user @dodiewill2 tweeted the "Occupy Mars" graphic (originally from the website TeeRepublic) at Musk, asking him to speed up Mars colonization plans. The image featured the words "Occupy Mars" overlaid on a photo of a blood moon from a 2018 lunar eclipse.

Five months later, on June 23, 2019, Musk tweeted the same image without any caption. The post pulled massive engagement: over 138,000 likes, 16,000 retweets, and 3,700 comments within 24 hours. The tweet came shortly after Musk had posted about "accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy".

How It Spread

The corrections came fast. Twitter user @flcnhvy replied simply: "That's the moon," attaching a screenshot of a Google search result as proof. That reply alone picked up more than 7,500 likes in 24 hours.

Australian scientist Upulie Divisekera delivered one of the sharpest responses: "Hey Super Space Genius, that's the moon in a total lunar eclipse". Her tweet racked up over 37,000 likes and 6,300 retweets within a day.

Musk acknowledged the blunder with a pair of rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emoji and the comment "Moon too". He followed up with a practical spin, telling another user: "Moon 1st, as it's only 3 days away & u don't need interplanetary orbital synchronization".

The pile-on produced some memorable replies. One user wrote: "The hero who is going to colonize Mars doesn't know what Mars looks like. Fantastic!" Another quipped: "you would be so much more entertaining if you were fictional". A user going by Space Pirate made a Star Wars reference: "That's no moon... no... wait... it is a moon".

Several people connected Musk's gaffe to a recent tweet from President Donald Trump, who had said NASA should focus on Mars, "of which the Moon is a part". One user asked Musk: "Um... are you intentionally making fun of our President? Cuz if you're not, may I?"

Twitter user @BBW_BFF pushed back on the Trump theory, noting that the "Occupy Mars" image existed before Trump's tweet and arguing "I just think homedude wasn't paying attention".

The story was picked up by Fox Business, CNET, Business Insider, Uproxx, and other outlets. The incident happened just a week after Musk had claimed he was deleting his Twitter account and temporarily changed his display name to "Daddy DotCom".

Platforms

TwitterTwitterReddit

Timeline

2023-01-15

First appears

2023-06-01

Goes viral

2024-01-01

Continues in use

2025-01-01

Elon Tweet Meme is still actively used and shared across platforms

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

This isn't a reusable meme template in the traditional sense. The humor comes from the specific moment of a space industry CEO confusing the moon for Mars. People typically reference it by:

- Screenshotting Musk's original tweet alongside the corrections - Using the "That's the moon" reply format when someone makes an obvious identification error - Bringing it up whenever Musk makes confident claims about space exploration - Pairing it with Trump's "Mars (of which the Moon is a part)" quote for a double dose of astronomical confusion

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

The tweet became a lightning rod for broader criticism of Musk's social media habits. Multiple major news outlets covered the gaffe, turning what could have been a quick delete-and-move-on moment into a multi-day news cycle. The incident fed into an ongoing narrative about tech billionaires making grand claims about space colonization while tripping over basic details.

The timing was notable: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket was scheduled for its first nighttime launch the very next day. The juxtaposition of a major space mission with a CEO who couldn't tell the moon from Mars gave critics easy material.

Fun Facts

The blood moon photo was from the July 2018 lunar eclipse, where the moon's reddish color during totality made it look superficially like Mars.

Musk's "Moon too" recovery attempt actually worked as a pivot, since SpaceX does have lunar mission plans alongside its Mars ambitions.

The "Occupy Mars" graphic originated from TeeRepublic merchandise, not from SpaceX or any Musk-affiliated source.

One Twitter user tried to help by posting a photoshopped version replacing the moon with an actual Mars image, writing "hey wrong planet but I fixed it for you".

Musk had just returned to Twitter after briefly claiming he would delete his account and renaming himself "Daddy DotCom".

Frequently Asked Questions

Elon Tweet Meme

2019Viral tweet / social media gaffedead

Also known as: Occupy Mars Tweet · Elon Musk Moon Tweet

The Elon Tweet Meme refers to the viral reaction after Elon Musk tweeted an "Occupy Mars" image on June 23, 2019, that actually showed a photograph of the moon during a lunar eclipse rather than Mars. The SpaceX CEO's mix-up between Earth's moon and the red planet sparked widespread mockery on Twitter, with users roasting the billionaire for not recognizing basic celestial bodies despite running a space company.

elon musk memes space aesthetic memes fail memes 2019 memes twitter memes

Overview

The meme centers on Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, posting an image captioned "Occupy Mars" to his Twitter account. The problem: the image was a photograph of the moon taken during the July 2018 lunar eclipse, which gave it a reddish hue resembling Mars. The blood moon coloring apparently fooled Musk into thinking it was the red planet, which made the mistake especially funny given that he literally runs a rocket company with Mars colonization as its stated goal.

The image itself predates Musk's tweet. On January 22, 2019, Twitter user @dodiewill2 tweeted the "Occupy Mars" graphic (originally from the website TeeRepublic) at Musk, asking him to speed up Mars colonization plans. The image featured the words "Occupy Mars" overlaid on a photo of a blood moon from a 2018 lunar eclipse.

Five months later, on June 23, 2019, Musk tweeted the same image without any caption. The post pulled massive engagement: over 138,000 likes, 16,000 retweets, and 3,700 comments within 24 hours. The tweet came shortly after Musk had posted about "accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy".

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Key People
Elon Musk, @dodiewill2, @flcnhvy
Date
2019

The image itself predates Musk's tweet. On January 22, 2019, Twitter user @dodiewill2 tweeted the "Occupy Mars" graphic (originally from the website TeeRepublic) at Musk, asking him to speed up Mars colonization plans. The image featured the words "Occupy Mars" overlaid on a photo of a blood moon from a 2018 lunar eclipse.

Five months later, on June 23, 2019, Musk tweeted the same image without any caption. The post pulled massive engagement: over 138,000 likes, 16,000 retweets, and 3,700 comments within 24 hours. The tweet came shortly after Musk had posted about "accelerating Starship development to build the Martian Technocracy".

How It Spread

The corrections came fast. Twitter user @flcnhvy replied simply: "That's the moon," attaching a screenshot of a Google search result as proof. That reply alone picked up more than 7,500 likes in 24 hours.

Australian scientist Upulie Divisekera delivered one of the sharpest responses: "Hey Super Space Genius, that's the moon in a total lunar eclipse". Her tweet racked up over 37,000 likes and 6,300 retweets within a day.

Musk acknowledged the blunder with a pair of rolling-on-the-floor-laughing emoji and the comment "Moon too". He followed up with a practical spin, telling another user: "Moon 1st, as it's only 3 days away & u don't need interplanetary orbital synchronization".

The pile-on produced some memorable replies. One user wrote: "The hero who is going to colonize Mars doesn't know what Mars looks like. Fantastic!" Another quipped: "you would be so much more entertaining if you were fictional". A user going by Space Pirate made a Star Wars reference: "That's no moon... no... wait... it is a moon".

Several people connected Musk's gaffe to a recent tweet from President Donald Trump, who had said NASA should focus on Mars, "of which the Moon is a part". One user asked Musk: "Um... are you intentionally making fun of our President? Cuz if you're not, may I?"

Twitter user @BBW_BFF pushed back on the Trump theory, noting that the "Occupy Mars" image existed before Trump's tweet and arguing "I just think homedude wasn't paying attention".

The story was picked up by Fox Business, CNET, Business Insider, Uproxx, and other outlets. The incident happened just a week after Musk had claimed he was deleting his Twitter account and temporarily changed his display name to "Daddy DotCom".

Platforms

TwitterTwitterReddit

Timeline

2023-01-15

First appears

2023-06-01

Goes viral

2024-01-01

Continues in use

2025-01-01

Elon Tweet Meme is still actively used and shared across platforms

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

This isn't a reusable meme template in the traditional sense. The humor comes from the specific moment of a space industry CEO confusing the moon for Mars. People typically reference it by:

- Screenshotting Musk's original tweet alongside the corrections - Using the "That's the moon" reply format when someone makes an obvious identification error - Bringing it up whenever Musk makes confident claims about space exploration - Pairing it with Trump's "Mars (of which the Moon is a part)" quote for a double dose of astronomical confusion

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

The tweet became a lightning rod for broader criticism of Musk's social media habits. Multiple major news outlets covered the gaffe, turning what could have been a quick delete-and-move-on moment into a multi-day news cycle. The incident fed into an ongoing narrative about tech billionaires making grand claims about space colonization while tripping over basic details.

The timing was notable: SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket was scheduled for its first nighttime launch the very next day. The juxtaposition of a major space mission with a CEO who couldn't tell the moon from Mars gave critics easy material.

Fun Facts

The blood moon photo was from the July 2018 lunar eclipse, where the moon's reddish color during totality made it look superficially like Mars.

Musk's "Moon too" recovery attempt actually worked as a pivot, since SpaceX does have lunar mission plans alongside its Mars ambitions.

The "Occupy Mars" graphic originated from TeeRepublic merchandise, not from SpaceX or any Musk-affiliated source.

One Twitter user tried to help by posting a photoshopped version replacing the moon with an actual Mars image, writing "hey wrong planet but I fixed it for you".

Musk had just returned to Twitter after briefly claiming he would delete his account and renaming himself "Daddy DotCom".

Frequently Asked Questions