This Week in Musk World

Liftoff of the Falcon Heavy early Tuesday morning - NASA photo

Another jam packed week in Musk World.

SpaceX had another successful launch early Tuesday morning. This time it was the Falcon Heavy STP-2 mission for the DoD.

This mission also marked the first time the side boosters that flew on a previous Falcon Heavy mission were reused. Big item in making Falcon Heavy more cost effective than the competition.

This past week SpaceX also got its (extremely) tentative NASA dates for the first Crew Dragon astronaut launch.

BBC's Top Gear does a Model 3 road test and comes away very impressed, "This [the Model 3] is the traffic light king. It's an AK-47 disguised as a butter knife." Host Chris Harris was so impressed he announced he was buying one.

Speaking of the Model 3 - it is probably the safest car on the planet (according to NHTSA testing).

James May (formerly of Top Gear) reviews the Model S P100D and calls it the "greatest muscle car that America has ever produced." I think his admiration is a little more than grudgingly given from this traditional motorhead and there's a more than a little bit of snark even in his compliments.

And speaking of the Model S - this past week marked the 7th year anniversary of its availability. In 2012 2,650 were delivered and last year 245,240 customers got their Model S's. I'm sure that number will be surpassed when the 2019 numbers are finalized.

Tesla will now also now be offering some collision repair via their service centers and mobile repair service. I really like how Tesla is moving to becoming a full one-stop shop for all car related needs. The car, the charging (Superchargers and Powerwall), the maintenance and repair and even soon insurance for the vehicle.  Oh and also "fast pass" access to The Boring Company's tunnels (very cool video).

Finally - Tesla Powerwalls now starting to be used in the telcom sector to replace diesel generators. This could be significant when coupled with solar recharging for remote cell sites and towers.

This Week in Musk World

This week in Musk World.

SpaceX hot-fires Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon aboard prior to first orbital launch. Manned orbital missions are getting closer and closer. In other SpaceX news - Elon Musk explains Starship's stainless steel look. There are many thermal property and cost related benefits in going with steel. Not mentioned is how wicked awesome stainless steel looks on a rocket.

Interesting - is Tesla the next great marijuana stock? Their Powerwall could be a boon to growers.

Sentry Mode coming for Telsa cars with Enhanced Autopilot. An ingenious way to utilize the built-in cameras for a 360-degree look at your vehicle while you are away. Cool - Tesla's Sentry Mode will even play Toccata and Fugue in D Minor to ward off would be car thiefs. Kind of amusing that we are the point of talking about these sort of fun enhancements instead of the very survival of the company. Telsa certainly has come a long way.

And finally a Public Service reminder - you don't put gas into a Tesla.