Geomagnetic storm sends 40 SpaceX satellites plummeting to Earth | Live Science

February 10, 2022February 9, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A powerful geomagnetic storm has doomed 40 Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX last week, the company has announced.

Elon Musk’s company launched a Falcon 9 rocket bearing the 49 satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday (Feb. 3), but a geomagnetic storm that struck a day later sent the satellites plummeting back toward Earth, where they will burn up in the atmosphere.

“Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday,” SpaceX said in a statement. “Preliminary analysis show[s] the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe mode to begin orbit-raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Tesla And SpaceX Billionaire Elon Musk Doubles Down On Dogecoin And Ethereum Plan To Beat Bitcoin Amid Crypto Price Bounce | Forbes

July 26, 2021July 25, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors were yesterday glued to one of the most hotly-anticipated events in the crypto calendar so far this year—a live discussion between Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, and major Tesla and bitcoin investor Cathie Wood.

The bitcoin price jumped in anticipation of the virtual event, climbing back from under $30,000 per bitcoin to over $32,000, and finding fresh support after Musk revealed that his rocket company SpaceX has joined Tesla TSLA -0.9% in holding bitcoin.

Elon Musk announces Teslas can now be bought with Bitcoin | Fast Company

March 29, 2021March 28, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Elon Musk took to Twitter this morning to announce that customers will soon be able to buy a new Tesla using bitcoin instead of fiat currency.

The move to accepting bitcoins as payment comes roughly a month after Tesla announced it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and that it had plans to enable bitcoin as a payment option in the future.

In a further tweet, Musk clarified that Tesla would not convert the bitcoin payments into fiat cash, and would instead hold onto the bitcoin as bitcoin.

Elon Musk wants to build a city called Starbase in Texas | Mashable

March 4, 2021March 3, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is getting into the city-building business.

On Tuesday, Musk tweeted about “creating the city of Starbase, Texas.” He followed that up with a few other details, some of which are typically Muskian — for example, he says the city will be dog friendly and its leader will be The Doge, a pun on a medieval elected lord title of the same name and the cryptocurrency DOGE, which is Musk’s favorite.

However, it appears that Musk is serious about creating a new city. SpaceX’s launch and development site for Starship resides in the unincorporated community in Cameron County, Texas. Musk claims he wants to incorporate the village and the land that surrounds it into a much bigger city called Starbase.

Full self-driving is coming for all Tesla owners with a subscription | Mashable

December 21, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you want your Tesla to drive itself down some streets and on the highway (with you still at the wheel, paying attention, of course) you need to put down some serious cash for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode. But in 2021, there might be more options.

Instead of paying $10,000 to add FSD mode to the Tesla advanced driving system, called Autopilot, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday about subscription access. That means anyone with a Tesla could pay month-to-month for the driving mode. It’s currently in beta with a select group of Tesla users and that’s it.

It’ll open up to more people at some point in 2021. Even though Musk had previously mentioned a rollout by the end of 2020.

Elon Musk is one board approval away from another $2.1 billion in stock options | TechCrunch

July 22, 2020July 21, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tesla’s six-month average trailing market capitalization hit $150 billion on Tuesday after a four-month run up of the automaker’s share price that theoretically unlocks a multi-billion-dollar vesting option for CEO Elon Musk.

Once Tesla hit the six-month average trailing market cap of $150 billion, which Reuters first reported, Musk became eligible to access the second of 12 levels of options granted to him in an unprecedented pay package approved by shareholders in 2018. The board must still certify the milestone before the vesting option is triggered.

The milestone was met the day before Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings.

Elon Musk Promises a Lot of Tesla Features. A Lot of It Never Comes Through | Digital Trends

January 13, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s 2020, and everyone’s a little disappointed that the flying cars aren’t here yet. But one 1980s fantasy of the future may soon come true: One day soon, your Tesla could be talking to you.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to show off a new feature for his electric cars: The ability to talk to people outside of the car in a British accent. Musk added that the talking car could cause some “epic robber confusion” by adding the functionality to the car’s already existing sentry mode, a monitoring system that’s part of the car’s security.

Love It or Hate It, Tesla Cybertruck Is Revolutionary | Live Science

December 6, 2019December 5, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With a collective gasp and puzzled looks, the world was recently introduced to Tesla’s newest vehicle. The so-called Cybertruck is an angular, stainless steel, all-electric pickup truck that quickly became polarizing.

The launch didn’t go very smoothly. The truck’s windows shattered when its lead designer smashed them with a metal ball, causing Tesla founder Elon Musk to curse under his breath. Some love its futuristic look. Others hate it. Even Lego made fun of it.

‘Consumer Reports’ calls out Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot update | Mashable

May 27, 2019May 25, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has proclaimed unfaltering adoration for his electric car company’s Autopilot feature on highways. But after a recent update meant to make it easier to use the semi-autonomous system, not everyone is so keen on the advanced-driving assistance tool.

Review service and publication Consumer Reports blasted Navigate on Autopilot on Wednesday following Tesla’s updates to the assistance tool last month. The automatic lane-changing and speed-suggesting system, which only works on certain highways, had several issues.

“We found that Navigate on Autopilot lagged far behind a human driver’s skill set,” the publication’s Keith Barry wrote.

Tesla delivers $311m quarterly profit | BBC News

October 25, 2018October 24, 2018 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tesla has reported a quarterly profit for just the third time in its 15-year history.

The electric car-maker made a record $311.5m (£241m) in the three months to 30 September, as the pace of car deliveries accelerated.

The result is a victory for chief executive Elon Musk, who had promised a profit to investors earlier this year.

Tesla’s last profitable quarter came in 2016 and it had faced mounting questions about its finances.