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NASA prepares to collect asteroid samples next week in deep space OSIRIS-REx mission

OSIRIS-REx orbiter to asteroid Bennu. (Credit: NASA)

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NASA currently has an orbiter circling the asteroid Bennu about 200 million miles from Earth, and a live streamed attempt to collect a sample from its surface will be made next week.

The mission, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer), was developed to help improve our understanding of asteroid impact risks and study how planets and life in the universe began. After a two-year-long journey through deep space, Bennu’s surface has been studied by the orbiter extensively since its arrival in 2018 in preparation for its historic mission. If successful, the craft will land on the asteroid and gather a 2.1 ounce sample that will be returned to our planet in 2023.

“Bennu contains material from the early solar system and may contain the molecular precursors to life and Earth’s oceans,” NASA’s announcement of the live stream detailed. “The asteroid is about as tall as the Empire State Building and could potentially threaten Earth late in the next century, with a 1‐in‐2,700 chance of impacting our planet during one of its close approaches.”

NASA’s live web cast of the event will begin at 6:12 pm EDT on Tuesday, October 20th. Press briefings and other social media activities will be held on October 19th beginning at 1 pm EDT.

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OSIRIS-REx, which is about 20 feet long and 10 feet high with its solar panels extended, has a two-part system to collect its asteroid sample. The first, a Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), is an articulated robotic arm with a sampler head that extends to the surface to gather regolith. Second, a Sample Return Capsule (SRC), acts as a container with a heat shield and parachutes that will both protect the asteroid regolith and enable reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. The mission is the first of its kind for NASA. Its predecessor is Japan’s Hayabusa mission which returned from with its asteroid sample in 2010.

NASA has been hard at work over the last decade with its deep space missions. Most recently, the agency’s Insight lander has been making progress studying “Marsquakes” after arriving on Mars in 2018. The newest Mars rover, Perseverance, is en route to the red planet where it will collect a sample of its own from the surface to return to Earth in a future mission. That mission also includes the first rotary craft experiment that will attempt flight on another planet.

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Another mission similar to OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft, scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in July 2021. DART will crash into the asteroid Didymos in 2022, and a European Space Agency orbiter will head to the asteroid in 2023 to study the event’s effects on the space object. Collected data will help formulate planetary defense plans by providing detailed analysis from DART’s real-time asteroid deflection experiment.

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Elon Musk

Tesla buyers are buying for Full Self-Driving and not for the car, data shows

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) showed a record attach rate at delivery for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2026.

75 percent of new vehicle deliveries in North America included a subscription to FSD software, up from 55 percent in the prior quarter, a 20-percentage-point sequential gain in the company’s most mature market.

Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

Tesla shed light on the Q3 Shareholder Deck that 75 percent of new deliveries came with an FSD subscription:

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets. “

The higher attach rate accompanied strong growth in the overall FSD consumer base, as active subscriptions rose to 1.75 million, a 67 percent year-over-year increase. For the first time, more than half of paid customers are on the monthly subscription, which is priced at $99 per month in the U.S.

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The transition to subscriptions has accelerated since Tesla discontinued the one-time purchase option in most markets earlier this year. The recurring model improves revenue visibility and margins compared with large upfront payments. With three-quarters of North American deliveries now including FSD, the software is now an evidently large contributor to Tesla’s economics and ancillary revenue.

Geographic expansion remains important for further gains. FSD is now available in nine countries in the EU, and more than 100,000 customers have driven over 160 million kilometers. Tesla is pursuing broader EU-wide approval, with a related vote expected in December. Similar progress in additional markets could support higher attach rates beyond North America.

These results came as Tesla had a strong quarterly delivery performance of 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, which came with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. Battery supply continued to limit volume, but the company has pointed to FSD as a clear difference-maker that is helping sustain demand. As supervised capabilities improve, the attach rate will likely continue to improve.

At face value, it is a key measure of how Tesla is converting sales into autonomy progress.

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Tesla Cybercab gets a for sale date at last

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Credit: Tesla

Update: 10/22 10:51a – Para 1 consumers changed to “customers” for accuracy.

Tesla Cybercab units finally got a definitive date for when they will be able to be purchased by customers, ending speculation regarding whether the fully autonomous vehicle would be available in the near term.

During Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 21, Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to begin delivering its purpose-built Cybercab robotaxi to customers before year-end.

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“We’re trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026,” Moravy said. He added that production is underway on the line at Gigafactory Texas, but “all of those are currently going to our own internal Robotaxi fleet.”

Moravy explained that as operations scale, Tesla will “mainly deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to our customers,” with the Cybercab as the first such vehicle. Initial customer deliveries will start small while the company gains experience with delivery logistics, ownership models, fleet management, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.

CEO Elon Musk reinforced the limited nature of private sales, describing the Cybercab primarily as a “transport-as-a-service” offering rather than a personal ownership vehicle like the Model 3, Model Y, or upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said.

The Cybercab is a two-seater vehicle developed by Tesla without a steering wheel or pedals. It relies completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite and has been in production since February. Early units have been put in Tesla’s Robotaxi service as of early September, when the company launched rides to the public. Tesla previously indicated it would aim to sell Cybercabs for about $30,000.

Unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to ship to consumer cars during Q2 2027, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI, indicated during the call. Early buyers or fleet operators may receive vehicles whose autonomous operation remains geographically restricted due to lagging regulatory agencies. There are some hurdles that remain ahead of Cybercab deliveries.

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Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

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Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.

Here’s where Earnings came in:

  • Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
  • Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
  • Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
  • Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
  • Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected

Major Takeaways

Full Self-Driving (Supervised)

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”

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Tesla Semi

“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”

SI Compute

“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”

Robotaxi

“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”

Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.

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