SpaceX's Falcon 9 wins launch of an asteroid-attacking NASA spacecraft. Maybe we'll be able to point back to this and tell our grandkids "This is how the Space Force was born!" Maybe future generations will view Falcon Heavy nailing the first triple rocket landing this week the way we look at the Wright brothers' first voyage.
And SpaceX is poised to win even more NASA contracts in the near future.
Meanwhile in the automobile world Elon Musk is bullish not just on EV's but on autonomous EV's going so far as to state that "in the future any car that does not have autonomy would be as useful as a horse." Even raising eyebrows by saying, "Please note that Tesla Full Self-Driving option will increase substantially over time." Will we look back at self-driving cars like some people look at standard transmission vehicles today? Elon Musk - putting the "auto" in "automobile".
In an interesting wrinkle on autonomous cars Tesla announces leasing options for the Model 3 but also that returned vehicles after the lease expires will be used for a Tesla owned ride hailing network. The leases will be true leases with no end of term option to purchase. Instead those vehicles will used to create basically a driverless alternative to Uber and Lyft.
Tesla this week also released their first ever 48-page Impact Report. The everyday use of Tesla cars and solar products has the biggest environmental impact but Tesla also goes the extra mile in making sure their manufacturing is as sustainable as possible. Their Fremont CA factory was certified as a "Zero Waste" facility. All of this is laudable but I kept waiting to read two words - nuclear power. The report states, "The world cannot reduce CO2 emissions without addressing energy generation and consumption." Solar does augment the grid and make it more resilient but the amount of coal used in the world is at the same level is was 20-years ago. You'd think an engineer and pragmatist such as Elon would simply state the truth that if you want true zero emissions then nuclear power has to be a big part of the picture.
But speaking of the factory - I know I posted this video before but it is so cool watching a Tesla Model 3 actually be assembled.
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