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NASA prepares to collect asteroid samples next week in deep space OSIRIS-REx mission
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.
All right. Time to get in the zone… On TAG day I need to collect at least 2 oz (60 grams) of Bennu's surface material, but there's a chance I could collect up to 4.4 lbs (2 kg) 😱 guess we'll have to wait and see… it's all part of the journey #ToBennuAndBack pic.twitter.com/c8EgYofjrA
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 14, 2020
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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.
TAG is six days away. I repeat TAG is SIX days away!
Mark your calendars and join me and my team for the adventure on Oct 20. The live broadcast starts at 5:00 pm EDT and touch down is scheduled for 6:12 pm EDT.
More details and events here: https://t.co/GZmHW4lV2C pic.twitter.com/4aLUPGX4gP
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 14, 2020
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.
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.
News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
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Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
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Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
