Lifestyle
Elon Musk and SpaceX featured in Nat Geo MARS mini-series
National Geographic (“NatGeo”) has launched their MARS mini-series to be aired every Monday evening for a total of six weeks. It’s a fictional drama set in the year 2033 imagining the first human mission to the surface of Mars with a huge focus on the scientific accomplishments necessary to make such a journey reality. Cut in with the drama are interviews with scientists explaining the complexities of the mission being imagined including, of course, our favorite Mars-bound-humanity-game-changer, Elon Musk.
Elon’s role in the first episode was to talk about the “big picture” challenges immediately apparent in a Mars mission:
- The risks of getting to Mars
- The adventure of it all
- The historical significance of launching from Pad 39A
- Why Mars is a goal to begin with
- Why landing on Mars is hard
- The importance of rocket reusability
- How fast we could establish a Mars colony
There’s been critique that the NatGeo series was essentially a big commercial for SpaceX and Elon. While the intention was (probably) not such, I can’t really argue that the impact (outcome?) wasn’t similar to a commercial. Elon wasn’t significantly over-featured versus others, but all of the modern-day rocket footage they used featured Falcon 9 and the SpaceX facilities.
Falcon 9: A big star in NatGeo’s MARS series | Credit: SpaceX
Honestly though, when you’ve been both leading the charge and are arguably the biggest player (i.e., rocket company) in the Mars game, a realistic drama series featuring humanity’s first trip to the red planet is probably going to include you in a major way. And seriously, how awkward would it be pretending otherwise?
Prequels to the NatGeo MARS Series
In the weeks leading up to the premiere of their MARS series debut, NatGeo published plenty of relevant videos in order to keep curious minds, well, curious and in anticipation for the series. There were three videos that stood out most to me:
- “Before MARS”
Featuring twin girls that become significant players in the main MARS series, this video gave a short coming-of-age backstory wherein one of the sisters embraces her interest in space science via a ham radio/wise neighbor experience. I thought it was well done and a sweet tale, but kind of missed the “feels” it was supposed to inspire. Perhaps as the girls’ characters are fleshed out in the coming episodes, it will have more impact.
- “Is it okay to touch Mars?” by Vsauce1 (YouTube channel)
This video wasn’t published by NatGeo, but is was sponsored by them and host Michael Stevens promoted the MARS series throughout while discussing the science behind it. There were plenty of interesting Mars topics not generally discussed such as space “bugs” infecting the Earth and rover scientists living by “Mars time”. I found it to be a good primer for the series.
- “NatGeo Live | Sending Humans to Mars: How will we do it?”
This video featured a panel of three scientists answering questions about the challenges of a Mars mission after showing clips from the series. Automation, 3D printing, and terraforming were the primary featured topics after general discussion of mission requirements. There was disagreement on the topic of terraforming Mars that I thought was very interesting and recommend watching.
Fun Trivia
After watching and reading through most of the material published on this series, there were a few interesting things I noted and wanted to share for fun:
“Flight of Icarus” | Credit: Internet Archive Book Image
- The spaceship carrying the Mars astronauts in the series is called “Daedalus”, named after the Greek god who fathered the infamous waxed-wing god Icarus (great Iron Maiden song, too). In the 1986 movie “Space Camp” (starring Kate Capshaw and Leah Thompson), the space station whose oxygen tank reserves save the kids from certain death in space is also called “Daedalus”. Uh, sorry for the spoiler.
- Mars already has an unofficial flag: A tricolor rectangle of red, green, and blue. Each color represents the stages of terraforming the planet from its current red state, to green from vegetation, and finally to blue like Earth. The colors were also inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson’s trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars.
- In the “Before Mars” video, ham/amateur radio is a big feature, even allowing one of the girls to communicate with the International Space Station. It actually is possible to communicate with the ISS via ham radio. Astronauts reach out on their free time regularly.
Overall, I thought NatGeo did a great job on the series, intertwining drama with the science to give the viewer an understanding of where we are, where we are going, and why it’s so tough to do it. The series especially shines if you’re looking for a kind of “one-stop” place for all that information in an entertaining way. Unfortunately though, if you’ve been reading about the march towards Mars for some time now, there isn’t much added other than a different perspective and storyline to consider.
I’m looking forward to the coming episodes and, of course, seeing what else Elon has to say along the way. Next up on my playlist: NatGeo’s “Before the Flood” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and featuring our guy Elon.
Onwards.
Lifestyle
NTSB findings on fatal Tesla crash tell a very different story
The NTSB confirmed the driver, not Tesla’s FSD, caused the fatal Texas house crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board released preliminary findings Wednesday confirming that a Tesla driver, not the vehicle’s software, caused a fatal crash in Katy, Texas in June. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Butler, had engaged Full Self-Driving Supervised mode on Rose Hollow Lane, a residential street with a 30 mph speed limit, before manually overriding the system by pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100%. Data recovered from the 2025 Tesla Model 3 showed the vehicle was traveling over 70 miles per hour when it struck a home and killed 76-year-old Martha Avila, who was inside. Weather was clear, the road was dry, and it was daylight.
Texas man charged in fatal Tesla crash where he blamed Autopilot
Butler told authorities he had passed out at the wheel. But security camera footage obtained by the NTSB told a different story, and showed the car accelerating through an intersection before leaving the road entirely. Police also found that Butler’s phone had Google searches including the terms “Tesla FSD not aggressive enough 2026” and “Tesla FSD too timid,” raising serious questions about how he was using the system before the crash. Butler has since been charged with manslaughter. The victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against both Butler and Tesla, alleging negligence.
The NTSB findings aligned directly with what Tesla VP of AI Software Ashok Elluswamy had already stated publicly on X in the weeks after the crash, writing that “the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.” The data confirmed his account.
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s Texas ranch to showcase the lifelong work that changed the world
Elon Musk is building a product gallery at his Texas ranch spanning his lifelong inventions.
Elon Musk took to X earlier today, noting “Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas.” in response to a resurfaced famous quote from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s wherein he draw parallels of the Tesla CEO to legendary physicist Albert Einstein.
Dimon made the remark at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland back in January 2025, telling CNBC at the time, “SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, I mean, the guy is our Einstein.” The remark seemingly ended a long-time feud between the two high profile execs.
While details are thin about the exact location of Elon Musk’s Texas ranch and any pending projects that would serve as a gallery and homage to his portfolio of revolutionary product inventions spanning from 1984 to 2025, land acquisition records point to roughly a location of several thousand acres in Bastrop County, east of Austin near the Colorado River and held through an LLC called Horse Ranch LLC that’s managed by Musk’s longtime personal friend and family wealth manager Jared Birchall. Birchall also serves as the CEO of Neuralink.
Tesla’s “ecological paradise” in Giga Texas may be larger than expected
The broader Bastrop County footprint surrounding the ranch has grown significantly. Entities tied to Musk have accumulated approximately 2,000 acres in Bastrop County as of mid-2026, up from 700 acres earlier in the year, with possibly as much as 6,000 acres acquired in total across Bastrop and Travis counties based on deed records.
No completion date for the gallery has been announced and Musk has not confirmed whether it will be open to the public. As Teslarati has reported, SpaceX just completed the largest IPO in history raising $75 billion, a milestone that makes this particular moment in Musk’s career a natural inflection point for looking back at what he has built through the years.
Am putting together a product gallery at my ranch in Texas https://t.co/xQf5FRy4uz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 15, 2026
Starting with Blastar, a simple space shooter game Musk coded at 12 years old and sold to a South African magazine for $500. From there the timeline moves through a commercial career that started with Zip2 in 1995, a city guide software company sold to Compaq for roughly $300 million in 1999. That was followed by X.com in 1999, which merged with Confinity to become PayPal, acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. SpaceX came in 2002, Tesla in 2003, SolarCity in 2006, the Supercharger network in 2012, Neuralink in 2016, The Boring Company in 2016, OpenAI co-founded in 2015, X acquired in 2022, xAI in 2023, Optimus in 2024, the Cybercab in 2026, and most recently SpaceXAI following the SpaceX and xAI merger. The gallery will also likely include items that blur the line between product and cultural artifact, among them The Boring Company’s Not-a-Flamethrower from 2018, Tesla Short Shorts from 2020, and Burnt Hair perfume released under X in 2022.
Lifestyle
Tesla makes the cut on California’s newest EV Rebate program
California just signed a $270 million EV rebate into law and it starts this summer.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 168 into law on Monday, July 13, 2026, creating a $270 million EV rebate program that delivers money directly at the dealership rather than as a tax credit applied months later. The program, called MyFirstEV, is funded equally by California’s state budget and participating automakers, with each contributing $135.5 million to make the math work.
The timing is directly tied to the loss of federal support when the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended, removing the most significant consumer incentive that had driven EV adoption in the U.S. California, which accounts for roughly one-third of all EVs sold nationally, moved to fill that gap with a state-level replacement.
The rebate structure is straightforward. First-time EV buyers can receive $3,500 off any new battery-electric vehicle with an MSRP up to $50,000. Used EVs priced at $25,000 or below qualify for a $1,750 rebate. The credit is applied at the point of sale, which removes the friction of the old federal system where buyers had to wait for tax season to see the benefit. The program goes live later this summer, with the California Air Resources Board expected to release full participation details next month.
California hits Tesla Cybercab and Robotaxi driverless cars with new law
For Tesla buyers, the implications are mixed. The Tesla Model 3 RWD at $42,490 and the Model 3 Long Range at $47,490 both fall under the $50,000 cap and would qualify for the full $3,500 rebate for first-time buyers. The Model Y, which starts at $44,990 after Tesla’s recent price adjustment, also qualifies. The Model X, Model S, and Cybertruck all exceed the cap and receive no benefit. As Teslarati has reported, the program also includes a carve-out exempting California-based automakers like Rivian and Lucid from the price cap entirely, a provision that puts Tesla at a disadvantage since it relocated its headquarters to Texas in 2021.
Other qualifying vehicles include the Chevrolet Equinox EV, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4.
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