WTF?

[epistler]

 Stopped by Paolini's TwitterX and came across this.



EDIT: Realised there's some extra text I missed, so here's the rest of it: 

"(We proceeded to geek out about the need for radiators on spaceships.)"

I find this claim highly questionable at best. Even more so when he was conveniently unable to provide any details.



Something to do with meteoric metal being used to make a sword, which is an idea that has been done before many, MANY times, eh? 

Yeah, I don't believe him, and if this really is just a straight-up lie it's really really gross. 

Comments

[pangolin20]

I... don't really see why the Artemis mission would have anything to do with meteors? It was a moon exploration mission, and I can't find much on meteors associated with it.

[epistler]

Yeah, the whole thing just sounds absolutely sussed as hell. If it was that big of a thing wouldn't he have had a proper interaction with her? And just who was this "woman from NASA" who randomly handed him a mission pin anyway? Does he even know her name? If this interaction actually happened, how does he know she wasn't just some weirdo who was making it up?

[ignoresandra]

I don't think I believe him either.

Which makes this gross as hell as the spirit of exploration that goes into space research is arguably the closest thing there is to a modern religion.

[torylltales]

This reminds me of Paolini boasting that he was qualified as a sniper or marksman in the Australian Army.

Just... bizarre, Trumpian self-aggrandisement that is so unbelievable that most people don't even challenge it. Oh, he wouldn't lie about something so obviously unbelievable, why would he do that?

[epistler]

I don't get why he even feels the need to carry on like this. What is he even trying to accomplish by making up obvious bullshit? Low self-esteem? Problems with his career? Both?

[torylltales]

[epistler]

The next few years should be... interesting.

[minionnumber2]

Someone wouldn't just buy a NASA logo sticker and an Artemis 1 pin from the gift shop and tell lies, would they!?

EDIT: The more I think on this, the funnier it gets. If you've worked with any US government program, progress takes a while. If you're talking NASA, it's even longer than you'd expect. Expecting NASA to come up with an experimental idea in 4 years time is silly.

[epistler]

Between this, the very dubious Kickstarter and constantly hawking crappy merch (seriously, To Sleep themed yoga pants?? Really?), Paolini's grift is just becoming more and more painfully obvious. He's always been a bullshit artist, but this is getting into out and out conman territory.

[torylltales]

Fan: "Hi, I'm a scientist and I worked on the Artemis 1 mission for NASA. Big fan of your books, here's a badge"

Paolini: "Wow, my books inspired a NASA scientist! I helped make the Artemis mission possible! But how? It must have been about meteoric steel, that's the only space thing in the series."

[epistler]

Yeah, if he's not out and out lying he's either delusional or arrogantly exaggerating what actually happened.