Tesla cyber tractor spotted; NASA chooses SpaceX for its lunar missions; Tesla’s safety record comes under the spotlight. This is the free edition of Musk Lees # 243 – sign up now to receive two more issues later this week!
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Muska Quote of the Week
“I was just there driving Cybertruck on the site where it’s going to be built!”
Tesla
Tesla’s Cybertruck, the upcoming angular electric vehicle, was spotted in prototype form. Twitter user Anthony Leisner shared an image of the truck under construction at the Giga Texas plant in Austin on April 15. He described the truck as ‘absolutely dirty in a real environment’.
The official Tesla account also shared two images of the truck in the factory:
One image showed the truck with a captive audience:
Musk confirmed on Twitter the same day that he had attended the website to drive the Cybertruck. When asked if Tesla is still on track to start the factory this year, he answers that there will be a limited production of Model Y this year, a large volume next year. ‘The comments indicate that the Cybertruck, which will be built exclusively in Giga Texas, will reach faster production rates in 2022.
One major unknown of the truck is its design. In March 2021, Musk claims the Cybertruck has ‘no handles’. Since the prototype above still has door handles, this may not be the final design.
SpaceX
NASA announced Friday that it has selected SpaceX to land future astronauts on the Moon. The agency awarded SpaceX a $ 2.89 billion milestone-based contract. SpaceX’s proposal involves using the Starship rocket as a lander. The firm is currently developing the giant stainless steel rocket at its Texas plant, and has so far offered four altitude tests with prototype models of the ship.
NASA plans to send four astronauts into space using its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. After reaching a lunar orbit, two astronauts will meet with SpaceX’s lander and linger long enough for the astronauts to move between the vessels and complete their journey to the surface. After a week on the moon, they will return to the lunar orbit and re-enter the Orion spacecraft.
While NASA plans to use the Space Launch System to leave Earth, SpaceX has its own plans to send humans into space with the Starship. The firm plans to develop a Super Heavy Amplifier, which will partner with the Starship to provide extra power and help the ship leave Earth.
SpaceX has big plans for this Super Heavy-powered setup. It aims to send the first humans to Mars using the Starship as the natural forerunner to transform humanity into a multi-planetary species.
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In other Musk news …
- On April 17, Tesla released its first safety report for the first quarter of 2021. The data show that cars using the semi-autonomous Autopilot mode crashed once every 4.19 million kilometers. The Tesla cars crashed once every 978,000 miles, without an automatic pilot or safety features. The firm cites NHTSA data showing that cars in the United States collide on average once every 484,000 miles.
- Just two days after the report, a Tesla Model S crashed in Texas, killing two passengers. Sergeant Cinthya Umanzor, of the Constable Precinct 4 of Harris County, told reporters there was no one in the driver’s seat. Officials have the Washington Post that the battery caught fire about 45 minutes after firefighters extinguished the initial flames. It took four hours and 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the battery flames.
- Stay tuned: SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station in a Crew Dragon capsule, launches on April 22.
- When will Starlink, SpaceX’s internet service, be available worldwide? The firm is on track to reach a major milestone. Read more.
The ultra-fine print
It was Musk Lees # 243, the weekly review of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Mike Brown, an innovation journalist for Reverse.
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