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Elon Musk to reveal Mars gameplan before Starship Super Heavy launch next week

Elon Musk to reveal Mars gameplan before Starship Super Heavy launch next week

India Today15-05-2025

SpaceX is gearing up for the ninth test flight of its massive Starship rocket, with liftoff scheduled for next week from the company's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.The much-anticipated launch will mark another critical step in SpaceX's quest to develop a fully reusable spacecraft capable of carrying humans to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, confirmed the launch window and added excitement by announcing that he will deliver a special company talk at Starbase outlining SpaceX's detailed plan for reaching and settling Mars.advertisement
'We're making great progress with Starship,' Musk posted on social media. 'After the next flight, I'll give a talk at Starbase explaining our Mars game plan in detail.'The upcoming test flight will focus on improving Starship's re-entry and landing systems, following the partial successes and spectacular explosions seen in earlier flights. The last test, Flight 8, achieved several milestones, including a successful stage separation and controlled descent, but ended with the vehicle breaking apart during re-entry.Engineers have since made modifications to the heat shield and flight software, hoping to achieve a soft splashdown this time.Starship, standing nearly 400 feet tall, is the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. It is designed to be fully reusable, with both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage intended to return to Earth for rapid turnaround launches. advertisementThe rocket is central to Nasa's Artemis program for returning astronauts to the Moon and is a key part of Musk's vision for making humanity a multiplanetary species.Musk's presentation is expected to provide new insights into how Starship will pave the way for human missions to Mars in the coming decade.Must Watch

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NASA captures crash site of Japanese moon lander Resilience in detailed lunar photo
NASA captures crash site of Japanese moon lander Resilience in detailed lunar photo

Time of India

timean hour ago

  • Time of India

NASA captures crash site of Japanese moon lander Resilience in detailed lunar photo

NASA 's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has captured a high-resolution image revealing the crash site of Japan's Resilience moon lander, developed by Tokyo-based private firm ispace. The lander was attempting a historic touchdown on June 5, 2025, in the Moon's Mare Frigoris region, a vast ancient lava plain, but communication was lost shortly after its descent. The newly released image shows a dark smudge surrounded by a faint bright halo, a clear sign of the vehicle's high-speed impact and the resulting disruption of lunar soil. This marks the second failed lunar landing attempt by ispace. NASA tracks Japan's failed moon landing attempt in ancient volcanic region The Resilience spacecraft was aiming for a controlled landing in Mare Frigoris, a region shaped by massive basaltic lava flows over 3.5 billion years ago and later deformed by crustal buckling, forming prominent wrinkle ridges. Shortly after initiating its landing sequence, the ispace Mission Control Center lost contact with the lander. Analysis confirmed that the vehicle had likely crashed. The small Tenacious microrover, developed by ispace's European team in Luxembourg, was also lost during the failed landing. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo NASA's image reveals lunar scars NASA's LRO image clearly shows a dark mark at the impact site, where the spacecraft disrupted the Moon's topsoil, known as regolith. A faint bright halo around the crash point resulted from fine particles being scattered across the surface. According to Mark Robinson, the principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, this visual evidence confirms the crash, which occurred about 2.4 km from the originally intended landing spot. Art and ambition lost in the crash The microrover Tenacious carried a unique piece of art, 'Moonhouse' by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg, a miniature model of red and white Swedish-style homes symbolising human presence and creativity on the Moon. This symbolic payload now lies among the wreckage, highlighting the fusion of art, exploration and private space ambitions. A repeated setback for ispace This was ispace's second lunar mission to end in failure. The company's first lander also crashed during its attempted landing in April 2023. Despite the setbacks, ispace remains among a small group of private firms pushing forward in the new era of commercial lunar exploration. The crash underscores the challenges of spaceflight, especially on the Moon, where terrain, timing and technology must align perfectly. While the crash is a disappointment for ispace, the successful imaging by NASA's orbiter provides valuable data and insights into the incident. As private and national space agencies continue their lunar ambitions, such documentation is vital for learning, improving designs and preparing for future missions, including eventual crewed landings and lunar habitation.

Elon Musk launches Tesla robotaxi in Austin: Here's how rides are priced
Elon Musk launches Tesla robotaxi in Austin: Here's how rides are priced

Hindustan Times

time6 hours ago

  • Hindustan Times

Elon Musk launches Tesla robotaxi in Austin: Here's how rides are priced

Tesla's long-hyped robotaxi was launched on Sunday afternoon, as per CEO Elon Musk who announced the rollout on his platform X (formerly Twitter). The first rides, priced at a flat $4.20 are now being offered in parts of Austin using driverless Tesla Model Y vehicles, stated a Reuters report. Several Tesla robotaxis were spotted Sunday morning navigating South Congress, a bustling neighborhood in the Texas capital, with no driver behind the wheel. A vehicle Tesla is using for robotaxi testing purposes on Oltorf Street in Austin(Bloomberg) Several social media users posted videos of robotaxis and noted that a single person was seated in the passenger seat, acting as a 'safety monitor'. The electric vehicle maker has not issued an official statement or provided details on the scope of the Tesla robotaxi launch, but a small group of influencers were invited to participate in a closely monitored pilot featuring 10-20 vehicles operating within a geofenced zone of Austin. Also read: Indian CEO slams Tesla for returning $1,000 fee: 'Elon Musk, do you know...' Texas lawmakers move to regulate autonomous vehicles The launch came days after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new legislation requiring autonomous vehicle operators to obtain a state permit. Though the law does not go into effect until September 1, it signals a shift from Texas' previously hands-off approach to autonomous driving regulation. The law mandated operators like Tesla to attest to the safety of their AVs, provide emergency protocols for police and first responders, and comply with Level 4 autonomy standards, which means vehicles can drive themselves within specific conditions sans human intervention. Tesla deviating from norms by not relying on lidar/radar The Reuters report stated that Tesla was bucking industry norms by relying exclusively on cameras, without lidar or radar. Additionally, Musk has long argued that relying on cameras make Tesla's system both safer and more scalable, though critics have cited safety risks and past delays as cause for concern. Musk has spoken about self-driving cars over the years and now he is promising that safety will be a top priority as they roll out Tesla robotaxis in Austin. These cars will steer clear of bad weather, tricky intersections, and underage riders, and will only drive in areas where they are certain everything is safe, Musk said. The launch of Tesla's robotaxi is a big step for the company's future plans. Analysts think a lot of Tesla's long-term worth is dependent on how well they can commercialize their robotaxis and AI technologies, like humanoid robots. However, it is not all smooth sailing. Tesla's rival Cruise, owned by GM, recently had to suspend its operations following an accident, and both Waymo (Alphabet) and Zoox (Amazon) are operating under heavy regulatory watch. Tesla's unique approach, relying purely on cameras, sets it apart from the competition, but it also brings its own set of safety and liability issues. FAQs Q: Is Tesla launching robotaxis in Austin today? Yes, Elon Musk announced that Tesla has begun offering limited robotaxi rides in Austin as of Sunday afternoon. Q: How much do Tesla robotaxi rides cost? Tesla is offering the initial rides at a flat rate of $4.20. Q: Are the Tesla robotaxis fully driverless? Yes, the vehicles operate without a driver but currently have a front-seat 'safety monitor' during this pilot phase. Q: What level of autonomy do these vehicles have? Tesla's robotaxis are classified as Level 4 autonomous, meaning they can drive themselves under specific conditions without human input.

Tesla To Launch Paid Robotaxi Service In Austin With Driverless Model Y SUVs
Tesla To Launch Paid Robotaxi Service In Austin With Driverless Model Y SUVs

NDTV

time11 hours ago

  • NDTV

Tesla To Launch Paid Robotaxi Service In Austin With Driverless Model Y SUVs

San Francisco: Elon Musk's vision of Tesla's future is set for a public test on Sunday, when a dozen or so self-driving cars in Austin, Texas start a limited, paid robotaxi service. Though Tesla is dispensing with a webcast product launch event helmed by Musk, fans will be scouring the internet for videos and reports from the coterie of invited riders that will be allowed to hail the small stable of Model Y SUVs for trips within a limited area of the city, accompanied by a Tesla safety monitor in the front passenger seat. The driver's seat will be empty. "Wow. We are going to ride in driverless Teslas in just a few days. On public roads," posted Omar Qazi, an user with 635,200 followers who writes often about Tesla using the handle @WholeMarsBlog and received an invite. The service in Austin will have other restrictions as well. Tesla plans to avoid bad weather, difficult intersections, and won't take anyone below the age of 18. Musk has said he is ready to delay the start for safety reasons, if needed. Tesla is worth more than most of its biggest rivals combined, and Musk has said that is supported by the company's future ability to create robotaxis and humanoid robots. For years, he has promised self-driving cars were just around the corner. Commercializing autonomous vehicles has been risky and expensive. GM's Cruise was shut down after a fatal accident and regulators are closely watching Tesla and its rivals, Alphabet's Waymo, which runs a paid robotaxi service in several US cities, and Amazon's Zoox. Tesla is also bucking the young industry's standard practice of relying on multiple technologies to read the road, using only cameras. That, says Musk, will be safe and much less expensive than lidar and radar systems added by rivals. Nonetheless, Musk says he is being "super paranoid about safety" with the rollout. "So far, this launch lags significantly behind the company's promise and what competitors have already delivered," said technology researcher Forrester's principal analyst Paul Miller. Fans have welcomed the caution and the long-awaited arrival. Qazi said on X, Tesla was launching "extremely cautiously, which is good."

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