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Did the US government force SpaceX to put headphones on seals and play sounds of sonic booms? What did Elon Musk say?

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Elon Musk claimed in a recent interview that US regulators asked SpaceX to conduct some unusual experiments involving seals. In the Lux Friedman podcast, Musk revealed that the government directed SpaceX to "kidnap seals" as part of a strange test.

According to Musk, the experiment involved tying a seal to a board and putting on headphones, and then exposing it to the sounds of sonic booms. These loud sounds are produced when rockets exceed the speed of sound.

Musk clarified that the purpose of these tests was to understand whether sonic booms were affecting the local seal population. He also shared a photo in which a seal is tied to a board and wearing headphones, listening to the sonic boom produced by a rocket launch. The tests were carried out twice and the seals remained calm throughout.

Are sonic booms really affecting seal populations? Sonic booms occur when rockets exceed the speed of sound, producing powerful shock waves. Musk explained that US regulators wanted to know whether these loud noises are annoying or harmful to seals.

Interestingly, Musk mentioned that seal populations near SpaceX's launch sites have increased over the years, indicating that rocket noise has not had a negative effect on these animals.

In another strange incident, Musk shared that at a town hall event for Trump, SpaceX was asked to study whether a Starship rocket could hit a shark. This study was later expanded to include whales as well, raising questions about what kind of environmental impact assessment SpaceX is being asked to do.