News
NASA plans to purchase another seat on Russian Soyuz after SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The collaboration is designed to give NASA more flexibility when it comes to launching crewed missions.
When the agency’s storied shuttle program came to an end in 2011, it left NASA dependent upon Russian rockets as its sole means of transporting astronauts to and from the space station. But the arrangement, which costs NASA roughly $85 million per seat, was always intended as a temporary solution.
NASA wanted to support a burgeoning commercial market, so it turned to private industry to build its next-generation space taxi. To that end, in 2014, the agency selected two companies — SpaceX and Boeing — to transport future crews. Each company would design and build its spacecraft capable of carrying humans. Six years later, SpaceX is set to become the first commercial company to transport astronauts, as its inaugural crewed flight prepares to take off on May 27.
The mission, known as Demo-2, is a flight test that will be used to certify the Dragon spacecraft for routine astronaut transport to and from the space station. During the mission, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will pilot the craft to the space station, where it will dock itself to the orbital outpost.
Their time on station is still to be determined, but the duo will make the most of their orbital stay. Not only will they evaluate how Dragon performs at different stages of the mission, but they will also assist fellow NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy with routine maintenance and station keeping.
Once Crew Dragon has been cleared to ferry people regularly, it will give NASA the flexibility to carry out missions of many different durations. To date, crews have spent anywhere from a couple of weeks in space, all the way up to a year. Their time on orbit is typically limited by the spacecraft that brought them, but by having multiple vehicles capable of flying to and from the space station, gives agencies around the world greater flexibility in mission planning.
Currently, NASA is in talks to purchase one more seat on a Russian Soyuz that would fly this fall. As it stands now, Chris Cassidy is the sole NASA astronaut on station, joined by two Russian colleagues. However, that leaves the station understaffed. Simply maintaining the orbital outpost is more than one crew member can handle. (A full space station crew is six.)
Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to launch on May 27 and will stay on station for as many as 110 days. That’s because their ride is only certified to stay in space that long. The harsh space environment wears on hardware, and the Crew Dragon’s solar arrays contain sensitive electronics that have a limited space life.
So what happens when Behnken and Hurley come home? At this point, the schedules are a little unclear, but Cassidy could remain on station by himself until the next crew can launch. While preparing for Demo-2, SpaceX is currently finishing construction on the capsule that will carry its first official crew. Four astronauts will fly on Crew Dragon sometime late this year or early next year, providing a fresh batch of astronauts.
In the meantime, NASA wants to make sure it will be able to have access to the space station, so it’s in talks with Roscosmos to buy one more seat. After that deal is made, NASA has a much different idea for the future of its partnership with the Russian space agency. During a series of briefings in advance of Demo-2, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine expressed how he hoped in the near future that NASA and Roscosmos could set up a trade agreement.
This would mean that U.S. astronauts would still fly on a Russian Soyuz and vice versa. Only instead of money exchanging hands, the two agencies would simply trade seats on each other’s vehicles. The first international partner to fly on a Crew Dragon will be Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), who will join NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Shannon Walker as part of the Crew-1 mission.
News
Tesla confirms annoying Full Self-Driving feature has been fixed
Tesla has changed one of its driver monitoring features in a request from several owners.
Tesla has confirmed that an annoying Full Self-Driving feature has been fixed.
We reported last week that several owners reported changes in the feature, and now we have confirmation that it has been revised by Tesla.
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) does not require a driver’s hands to be on the steering wheel. However, eye movements and attentiveness are tracked through a cabin-facing camera, aiming to improve safety and limit loopholes in the system.
Tesla seems to have fixed one of Full Self-Driving’s most annoying features
If the system detects that your eyes are not on the road or you are not paying attention, FSD will nudge you to get them back on the road. Too many occurrences of the driver not paying attention will result in losing access to FSD for the remainder of the drive.
However, many drivers using FSD complained that the system was too quick to alert drivers of inattentiveness. Fixing things like the HVAC temperature or even Autopilot settings on the center touchscreen would get you a nudge, which seemed unreasonably fast. Many drivers said it was a seven-second limit, but it seemed faster than this.
🚨 This is really nice to hear. Tesla said they’d fix it! pic.twitter.com/lFIZGc6PQ5 https://t.co/JE4UFAWEZz
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 15, 2025
In my experience, FSD nudged me to pay attention to the road when I was adjusting the speed offset, which gives the vehicle permission to travel over the speed limit by a percentage. For example, a 10% offset in a 50 MPH zone would let the car travel 55 MPH.
The nudging seemed to be too fast and annoying, and many other Tesla drivers agreed. CEO Elon Musk had even noted that the nudge was too fast and drivers were right to be annoyed with it, especially considering that, in theory, it would be safer to adjust these settings on FSD and not while operating the car manually.
Tesla took the criticism drivers had and turned it into a much-needed and notable change that has now been confirmed by Ashok Elluswamy, Head of AI and Autopilot for the company:
Was much needed
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) May 16, 2025
The change seems to be initiated on vehicles with Hardware 4. It is certainly a welcome change as the nudge was just a tad sensitive and could have been much more reasonable.
The adjustment made by Tesla came just a week after owners truly started becoming more vocal about the issue.
Elon Musk
Tesla bull, ARK head Cathie Wood says brand damage is not long-term
Cathie Wood of ARK Invest does not believe Tesla brand damage is a long-term problem.
Tesla bull and head of ARK Invest, Cathie Wood, admitted during an interview with Bloomberg that she does believe the company has experienced some brand damage due to CEO Elon Musk’s political involvement. However, she does not believe it is a long-term issue.
Over the past eight months, Musk’s involvement in the U.S. political landscape has swayed some to stop supporting Tesla, others to ditch their cars, and some to boycott the brand altogether. Inversely, others have started supporting Musk, Tesla, and its products as a nod of support for what he’s done for government efficiency.
The perspective on how Musk’s involvement has impacted Tesla truly varies. Its impact has been noticeable, especially in Europe, as some countries have seen some pretty drastic declines in deliveries since the start of the year.
However, some of this can be attributed to the company’s switchover to new production lines for the updated Model Y. Some can also be blamed on economic issues, as the cost of living is still relatively high. There is no denying that at least some of the impact has come from those who simply disagree with Musk and are choosing not to buy his companies’ products.
Wood is among Tesla’s most outspoken bulls and has tremendously high expectations for the stock moving into the late 2020s and into the 2030s. In a recent interview, she highlighted the brand’s exceptional potential moving forward, but did address some of the short-term concerns, especially regarding Tesla’s perception amongst the public:
“I think he feels he has a duty to the country to make sure we don’t ‘blow ourselves up’ with these deficits. Brand damage? Yes. I do not believe [it is long-term]. Tesla, we believe, will have a lock on the Robotaxi business in the U.S., and we believe they are going to proliferate through the United States, especially if we remove regulation from a state level to a federal level, which we believe will happen.”
🚨 ARK’s Cathie Wood: “Tesla Brand Damage Has Happened”@CathieDWood breaks down what Elon Musk’s moves mean for $TSLA — from tech updates to falling sales in Europe!
She’s still bullish on US Robotaxis but warns that rules in Europe and China could make things tricky. Big… pic.twitter.com/YzNnc8dUhi
— Herbert Ong (@herbertong) May 19, 2025
Musk announced during the company’s most recent Earnings Call that he would step back from his government duties and return to Tesla in a more consistent role, as his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) seemed to be winding down to a certain extent.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirms time spent with DOGE will drop ‘significantly’
It was a big win for Tesla investors, as many were interested in Musk returning his focus to the automaker, especially as 2025 is expected to be a year of many catalysts between the Robotaxi launch, affordable models coming into play, production of the Semi starting at the tail-end of the year, and the Optimus robot continuing consistent development.
Wood was quick to point out that Tesla is not the only car company that was suffering with lagging sales, as a macro-level perspective on the automotive industry proves that many automakers are looking for ways to avert disaster due to the ongoing tariff war.
Tesla is still the highest-valued automaker in the world, and it has plenty of bullish points to look forward to as the year nears the halfway point.
News
Tesla offers interesting promo to future ride-hailing rival’s drivers
Lyft drivers will get $1,000 in vehicle credits if they complete 100 rides by the cutoff date for the promo.
Tesla has offered an interesting promotion for its vehicles to the drivers of one of its future ride-hailing rivals as it continues to work toward the launch of its autonomous Robotaxi platform.
This morning, Tesla launched a $1,000 off promotion to Lyft drivers who plan to utilize one of the company’s EVs for ride-hailing purposes. The promo applies to all five Tesla models: the Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck.
It is not offered at the point of sale. Instead, to ensure the vehicle is properly utilized for ride-hailing purposes and to prove the discount, Tesla will offer $1,000 in vehicle credits to the Lyft driver after they complete 100 trips on or before July 13, 2025. Delivery must be taken by June 30.
🚨 Tesla is offering $1,000 off for those who purchase a vehicle for Lyft purposes! https://t.co/ND9sKiykMW pic.twitter.com/AP8tSP1cbN
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 16, 2025
It is an interesting move by Tesla because Lyft, along with Uber, will become a rival in the coming years as the companies continue to develop driverless ride-hailing platforms of their own. Lyft has partnered with May Mobility and Mobileye to develop driverless, fully autonomous vehicles purpose-built for ride-hailing.
Tesla plans to launch its Robotaxi platform next month in Austin, Texas.
Meanwhile, Lyft’s plans are more down the road. Earlier this year, the company said it would launch autonomous rides sometime next year.
For now, the move seems to be just another way Tesla is incentivizing consumers to buy one of their vehicles. Earlier this week, it also launched another $1,000 off promo for teachers, students, retirees, active-duty members, their spouses, and surviving spouses.
Previously, Tesla only offered that discount to military members.
It is unclear why Tesla would be offering these discounts, but it could be more of a thank you or an act of recognition, more than anything. If it were a measure that was taken to increase demand, it would be substantially more of a discount. For example, when Tesla was trying to rid its inventory of legacy Model Y units as the new, updated vehicle was set to be released, discounts were over $5,000.
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