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Of Mice And Musk: A SpaceX Odyssey
Elon Musk has dreamed of a human colony on Mars since he was a young man. Today, his SpaceX company is taking the first steps toward achieving that dream.
As Ashlee Vance tells it, one wall of Elon Musk’s office at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, contains two posters of Mars. On the left is Mars as it exists today – a frozen, lifeless orb. On the right is Musk’s vision of Mars as it could be — a happy place inhabited by humans who frolic on verdant continents surrounded by oceans.
“I would like to die thinking that humanity has a bright future,” he tells Vance while eating cookies and cream with sprinkles on top. “If we can solve sustainable energy and be well on our way to becoming a multi-planetary species with a self-sustaining civilization on another planet—to cope with a worst-case scenario happening and extinguishing human consciousness— then I think that would be really good.” No one has ever accused Elon Musk of thinking too small.
At the turn of the 21st century, Musk had two Martian fantasies. One was to send a colony of mice to the Red Planet and bring them back again, along with their interplanetary babies. The other involved building a greenhouse on Mars and letting Earthlings see the plants inside grow over the internet. Each venture required at least one if not two rocket ships.
He and a coterie of friends traveled twice to Moscow, once in 2001 and again in 2002, trying to purchase surplus Russian rockets that could be refurbished for the Martian missions. The first time did not go well. Recalls Jim Cantrell, one of the team that traveled to Moscow with Musk, “One of their chief designers spit on me and Elon because he thought we were full of shit.” On the second excursion, Musk became convinced the Russians he was meeting with were only interested in fleecing a gullible American with too much money and too few brains.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk inside the Dragon V2 [Source: SpaceX]
On the way home from the second failed mission, Musk astonished his team by announcing, “Hey, guys, I think we can build this rocket ourselves.” In June 2002, Space Exploration Technologies, popularly known as SpaceX, was formed to build a cheaper rocket that could carry small payloads into space for paying clients on an average of once a month. The only problem? It had no rocket.
Such trifles were never matters to hold Elon Musk back. He assembled a team of committed rocket engineers and set about accomplishing, with millions, what NASA spent billions doing. Musk’s principle talent, apart from concocting outrageously impossible dreams, is finding people to work for him who are ready, willing and eager to give up all semblance of a normal life in exchange for insane working hours in remote locations. One test launching area was set up in the middle of Texas and another on far away Kwajalein Island, the largest island in an atoll between Guam and Hawaii that is part of the Marshall Islands.
“I would like to die thinking that humanity has a bright future”
SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk
Musk is not a man without a sense of humor. He dubbed his new rocket Falcon 1, paying homage to the Millennium Falcon of Star Wars fame. On its first flight on March 24, 2006, it crashed back to Earth after only 25 seconds. SpaceX employees dutifully donned scuba gear to retrieve some of the pieces from the ocean and set about rebuilding for another attempt.
Musk responded by hiring more engineers and starting work on a brand new rocket, the Falcon 9, that featured one large central rocket surrounded by 8 smaller rockets. Despite the failure of Falcon 1, Musk was already busy positioning the company to bid on NASA contracts to resupply the International Space Station.
On September 1, 2008, Falcon 1 flew its first successful mission. SpaceX was a viable commercial company at last but one that was rapidly going broke. At the end of 2008, Musk knew he would have to choose between SpaceX and Tesla. Alone, one of them might survive. Together? The odds were, both would fail. Musk worried that Tesla would be bought out by one of the Big Three automakers and become just a small part of a giant company.
Later in 2008, Tesla was within hours of defaulting on its payroll obligations. If that happened, Musk’s personal fortune would be gone, along with Tesla and SpaceX. He asked for help from venture capital group VantagePoint but was rebuffed. That’s when Musk put all his chips on red and let them ride.
Source: SpaceX
With all of his dreams and aspirations on the line, Musk executed a colossal bluff. He told investors he would put in $40,000,000 of his own fortune to keep the business going — $40,000,000 he didn’t have. Based on his assurances, other investors agreed to put up $20,000,000 more in financing and the crisis passed. A few weeks later, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to do twleve ISS re-supply missions.
Antonio Gracias, a Tesla and SpaceX investor and one of Musk’s closest friends, watched all of this at close hand. He says 2008 told him everything he would ever need to know about Musk’s character. “He has the ability to work harder and endure more stress than anyone I’ve ever met,” Gracias says. “What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. Most people who are under that sort of pressure fray. Their decisions go bad. Elon gets hyperrational. He’s still able to make very clear, long-term decisions. The harder it gets, the better he gets.”
Today, SpaceX launches an average of one rocket a month, carrying payloads for many companies and several nations. Its prices undercut those of Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Orbital Science by a wide margin. Many of its competitors rely on Russian and other foreign suppliers but SpaceX makes its machines from scratch in the U.S.
Its clientele includes Canadian, European, and Asian customers and it has more than 50 flights planned over the coming years worth more than $5 billion. The company remains privately owned, with Musk as the largest shareholder. SpaceX is profitable and is estimated to be worth $12 billion.
Falcon 9 discovery launch from Feb. 2014 at Cape Canaveral, FL [Image credit: SpaceX]
The Falcon 9 has gone from a fantasy to SpaceX’s workhorse. Painted pure white with only an American flag and the SpaceX logo adorning its sides, there’s nothing particularly flashy looking about the Falcon 9. It’s just an elegant, purposeful machine. And to think that for a period of weeks just a few years ago, it’s ability to lead mankind into the dawn of commercial space travel almost died before it was ever born, thanks to a bluff so bold and so daring, it would leave most of us breathless.
Jimmy Buffett once sang, “Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks, and I learned much from both of their styles.” Which one is Elon Musk? Read Ashlee Vance’s book and make up your own mind.
Source: Bloomberg
Elon Musk
Tesla FSD mocks BMW human driver: Saves pedestrian from near miss
Tesla FSD anticipated a BMW driver’s lane drift before the human behind the wheel could react.
A video posted to r/TeslaFSD this week put a sharp spotlight on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software being able to react to pedestrian intent than an actual human driver behind the wheel. In the Reddit clip, a BMW driver can be seen rolling through a neighborhood street completely unaware of a pedestrian stepping in to cross. At the same time, a Tesla driving on FSD had already begun slowing down before the pedestrian even began their attempt to cross the street The BMW kept moving, prompting the pedestrian to hop back, while the Tesla came to a stop and provide right-of-way for the human to safely cross.
That gap between what the BMW driver saw and what FSD had already processed is the story. Tesla FSD wasn’t reacting to a person in the street, rather it was reading the signals that a person was about to enter it based on the pedestrian’s movement, trajectory, and their trajectory to telegraph intent.
Tesla’s FSD is now built on an end-to-end neural network trained on billions of real-world miles, learning to interpret subtle human behavioral cues the same way an experienced human driver does instinctively. The difference is consistency. A human driver distracted for two seconds misses what FSD does not.
Tesla sues California DMV over Autopilot and FSD advertising ruling
Reddit commenters in the thread were blunt about the BMW driver’s failure, with several pointing out that the pedestrian was visible well before the crossing. One response put it plainly that the car on FSD saw the situation developing before the human in the other car had registered there was a situation at all.
Tesla has published data showing FSD (Supervised) is 54% safer than a human driver, accumulated across billions of miles driven on the system. Elon Musk has said FSD v14 will outperform human drivers by a factor of two to three, and that v15 has “a shot” at a 10x improvement. Pedestrian safety is where the stakes are highest, and where intent prediction closes the gap fastest. At 30 mph, a car covers roughly 44 feet per second. An extra second of awareness from reading a person’s body language rather than waiting for them to step out is often the difference between a near miss and a fatality.
Video and community discussion: r/TeslaFSD on Reddit
FSD saves man from becoming a pancake. BMW driver nearly flattens him.
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Tesla Robotaxi gets a small but significant change
In the world of Tesla, where billion-dollar battery breakthroughs and autonomy milestones dominate headlines, a quiet design update can still pack a punch.
In the world of Tesla, where billion-dollar battery breakthroughs and autonomy milestones dominate headlines, a quiet design update can still pack a punch.
Last week in downtown Austin, sharp-eyed observers spotted a subtle but telling evolution on the Cybercab: a new “ROBOTAXI” logo graphic now graces the vehicle’s doors at Tesla’s Autonomy Popup.
What looks at first glance like a minor stylistic choice is, in fact, a deliberate rebranding move that hints at how the company envisions its robotaxi fleet fitting into everyday life.
The updated lettering is bold, graffiti-inspired, and unapologetically street-smart. Rendered in black with dripping white accents and a glowing yellow outline, the font evokes urban energy and playful irreverence.
Live From Downtown Austin:
Tesla Cybercab with new logo Graphic at their Autonomy Popup pic.twitter.com/MTTb9KDr3b
— David Moss (@DavidMoss) March 13, 2026
Gone is the sleek, minimalist typography that defined earlier Cybercab prototypes. In its place is something more human, almost rebellious.
The new logo pops against the Cybercab’s smooth, metallic body, turning the autonomous pod into a rolling piece of public art rather than just another futuristic taxi.
Designers know that fonts are silent brand ambassadors. They shape perception before a single ride is taken. Tesla’s classic sans-serif aesthetic screams precision engineering and Silicon Valley cool.
The new Robotaxi script leans into accessibility and fun, suggesting the vehicle is approachable, not intimidating. For a product meant to ferry strangers through city streets 24/7, that matters. It signals that the robotaxi isn’t reserved for tech elites; it’s for everyone.
Tesla Cybercab spotted next to Model Y shows size comparison
The timing is no accident. With regulatory approvals for unsupervised autonomy advancing and Tesla preparing to scale Cybercab production, the company is shifting from prototype showcase to fleet deployment.
A fresh logo helps differentiate the vehicles visually in dense urban environments—crucial for rider recognition and brand recall. It also aligns with Elon Musk’s long-standing ethos: make the future feel exciting, not sterile.
Small changes like this often foreshadow a larger strategy. Tesla has always obsessed over details—door handles, screen interfaces, even the curvature of a steering wheel.
Updating the Robotaxi font reflects the same meticulous care now applied to consumer-facing autonomy. It’s not just paint on metal; it’s a statement that the ride of the future should feel personal, memorable, and undeniably cool.
In an industry racing toward self-driving fleets, Tesla’s willingness to evolve even the smallest visual cues shows confidence. A font won’t launch the robotaxi network, but it might just help millions climb aboard with a smile.
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Tesla makes latest announcement on Model S and Model X
The announcement follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statement on the Q4 2025 earnings call in late January. Musk described the decision as an “honorable discharge” for the two vehicles, noting that production would wind down in Q2 2026.
Tesla has officially begun winding down production of its flagship Model S and Model X in the United States, notifying owners via email that the long-running models will soon reach the end of the line.
The email, sent to U.S. customers on March 27, opens with gratitude. “Model S and Model X marked the beginning of the world’s transition to electric transportation,” it reads. “These vehicles also made it possible for Tesla to develop the technology that would move our world toward autonomy.”
It then delivers the news directly: “As we make way for this autonomous future, Model S and Model X production will be ending. If you’d like to bring home a new Model S or Model X, order yours soon from our limited inventory.”
Tesla just sent out a new email thanking Model S/X owners.
“These vehicles made it possible for Tesla to develop the technology that would move our world toward autonomy. As we make way for this autonomous future, Model S and Model X production will be ending. If you’d like to… pic.twitter.com/IeUhZ3iDnX
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 27, 2026
The message closes with a simple thank-you: “Thank you for being part of our journey.”
The announcement follows Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s statement on the Q4 2025 earnings call in late January. Musk described the decision as an “honorable discharge” for the two vehicles, noting that production would wind down in Q2 2026.
The move frees factory floor space at Fremont, California, for next-generation manufacturing, including Optimus humanoid robots and the upcoming Robotaxi platform.
Introduced in 2012 and 2015, respectively, the Model S and Model X were Tesla’s original halo cars. They proved EVs could outperform gasoline luxury vehicles in acceleration, range, and tech features while pioneering over-the-air updates and early autonomy hardware.
Although they never matched the volume of the Model 3 and Model Y, their engineering breakthroughs laid the foundation for the company’s current lineup and full self-driving development.
Early adopters highlighted how the cars convinced them to invest in Tesla stock and the EV movement. Some U.S. owners who had not yet received the note voiced mild frustration, and international customers confirmed the outreach remains U.S.-only for now.
Tesla has not detailed an exact final production date beyond the Q2 2026 target or confirmed immediate replacements. Speculation continues about a possible Cybertruck-derived SUV, but the company’s public focus has shifted squarely to autonomy and robotics.
For buyers still interested in the S or X, the window is closing. Inventory is described as limited, and Tesla’s Korean division has already set a March 31 cutoff for new orders in that market. The email serves as both a farewell and final sales push, an elegant close to a chapter that helped define modern electric driving.
Tesla FSD mocks BMW human driver: Saves pedestrian from near miss
Tesla Robotaxi gets a small but significant change
Tesla makes latest announcement on Model S and Model X
Elon Musk says Tesla is developing a new vehicle: ‘Way cooler than a minivan’
Elon Musk launches TERAFAB: The $25B Tesla-SpaceXAI chip factory that will rewire the AI industry
