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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
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.
Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
News
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
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Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
