Tesla Cybertruck spotted; NASA chooses SpaceX for its lunar missions; Tesla’s safety record comes into the spotlight. It is the free version of Musk reads # 243 – Sign up now to receive two more editions later this week!
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Musk quote of the week
“I was just there, driving Cybertruck around the site where it will be built!”
Tesla
Tesla’s Cybertruck, the upcoming angular electric vehicle, has been spotted in prototype form. Twitter user Anthony Leisner shared an image of the truck at the Giga Texas factory in Austin under construction on April 15. He described the truck as ‘absolutely tough dirty in a real environment’.
The official Tesla account also shared two images of the truck at the factory:
One image showed the truck with a captive audience:
Musk confirmed on Twitter the same day that he visited the site to drive the Cybertruck. However, when asked if Tesla was still on track to start production at the factory this year, he answered that there will be “limited production of Model Y this year, high volume next year.” The comments suggest that the Cybertruck, which will be built exclusively in Giga Texas, will reach faster production speeds in 2022.
A great unknown about the truck is its design. In March 2021 Musk claimed the Cybertruck would have “no handles”. Since the above prototype still has door handles, it may not represent the final design.
SpaceX
NASA announced Friday that it has chosen SpaceX to land future astronauts on the moon. The agency awarded SpaceX a milestone-based contract worth $ 2.89 billion. SpaceX’s proposal includes the use of the Starship rocket as a lander. The company is currently developing the giant stainless steel missile at its Texas facility and has conducted four high-altitude tests so far using prototype models of the ship.
NASA plans to send four astronauts into space using its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. Once they reach orbit, two astronauts meet with SpaceX’s lander, docking long enough for the astronauts to move between the ships and complete their journey to the surface. After a week on the moon, they will return to orbit the moon 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 company plans to develop a super-heavy booster, which will be attached to the spaceship to provide additional power and help the ship leave Earth.
SpaceX has big plans for this Super Heavy-powered setup. The goal is to send the first humans to Mars by using the spaceship as the natural precursor to transform humanity into a multi-planetary species.
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In other Musk news …
- Tesla released its first quarter 2021 safety report on April 17. The data shows that cars using semi-autonomous Autopilot mode crashed once every 4.19 million miles. With no autopilot or safety features enabled, Tesla cars crashed once every 978,000 miles. The company cites NHTSA data showing that cars in the United States crash once every 484,000 miles on average.
- Just two days after the report, a Tesla Model S crashed in Texas, killing two passengers. Sergeant Cinthya Umanzor, of the Harris County Constable Precinct 4, told reporters that no one was sitting in the driver’s seat. Officials told the Washington Post that the battery ignited about 45 minutes after the firefighters put out the first flames. It took four hours and 30,000 liters of water to extinguish the battery’s flames.
- Stay tuned: SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission, which will send four astronauts to the International Space Station in a Crew Dragon capsule, will launch April 22.
- When will Starlink, SpaceX’s internet service, be available worldwide? The company is on the verge of a major milestone. read more.
The ultra-fine print
This has been Musk reads # 243, the weekly review of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. I’m Mike Brown, an innovation journalist before Inverse.
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