Lifestyle
NASA develops 3D Mars base simulator in collaboration with game studio
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) collaborated with independent game studio Blackbird Interactive (BBI) to create an incredibly realistic interactive 3D Mars base simulation called Project Eagle. Using current science and potential technology development inspired by it, users can venture through the simulation’s multi-level Eagle Base where “past” and “current” colony construction, energy, and habitation projects are on display with infographics explaining their design and overall functionality. The timeline is set 100 years in the future with a red planet population that starts with around 5500 colonists that are visibly carrying out a life among the regolith.
The imagined colony is located in the Gale Crater, an area slightly south of Mars’s equator on the Eastern hemisphere, which is also the same spot NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover landed on August 6, 2012. In fact, the simulation has a monument set just outside the colony which commemorates Curiosity. The topographical and geographic features are based on actual map data collected by Mars satellites and rovers that were provided to BBI, and through a series of time lapses, users can experience a virtual day, sunsets, nights, and sunrises. This region is also near the Elysium Planitia where NASA’s recently arrived InSight lander is located.
While exploring, users will come across a few unique features in the simulation. The primary region is the “Dome Complex” wherein a very large biodome made possible by Mars’s low gravity -the Eagle Dome – is located, providing an Earth-like ecosystem for the colonists. The dome is shielded from radiation, but enough light is allowed to filter through so that occupants don’t suffer from claustrophobia. The environment also enables spacesuit-free living. To support the dome and other areas where colonists are living and working, multiple algae-ponds have been constructed which generate oxygen and provide a supplemental food source.
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
-
- A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
A future human colony on Mars as imagined by Blackbird Interactive in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | Credit: Blackbird Interactive
Outside of the dome are condo-blocks providing primary residencies to the planet’s human occupants. These have been constructed using Mars-native materials and connect to a system of underground tunnels, also areas protected from radiation where colonists can live without pressurized suits. To realistically show the progress made in the colonization effort, legacy “hab” pods and an old launch pad are present, complete with little blurbs about the colony’s development history.
Additionally, power is provided via nuclear fission reactors, the Uranium for which is provided from Earth every few years on resupply missions. Water treatment facilities connected to Martian water wells are also present along with several satellite dishes forming a communications array where Martian internet has been established. When visitors are ready to leave, a shuttle launch animation is available, sending off a flattened winged craft from a receded launch facility, thereby exiting the simulation.
Project Eagle was first introduced in 2017 at the annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. In the presentation hosted by Dr. Jeff Norris, Mission Operations Innovation Lead of NASA’s JPL, video game creators were encouraged to utilize their tools – games – to do more than just entertain and amuse their audience. He made a case for art as inspiration for a plausible vision for the future of space exploration. “Great art doesn’t just move us as individuals – it can move entire societies,” he stated on stage. He further cited the connection between the originator of “space art”, artist Chelsey Bonestell, and the public’s directly inspired support of the later Moon missions. The simulation was made available for use by attendees and is now available through Steam.
For more on Project Eagle and to see the 2017 DICE presentation by Dr. Norris and BBI, watch the video below:
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla has taken home the “Overall Loyalty to Make” award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth consecutive year, reinforcing Tesla owners’ willingness to come back. The 2025 awards are based on S&P Global Mobility’s analysis of 13.6 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. from October 2024 through September 2025. The complete list of 2025 winners includes General Motors for Overall Loyalty to Manufacturer, Tesla for Overall Loyalty to Make, Chevrolet Equinox for Overall Loyalty to Model, Mini for Most Improved Make Loyalty, Subaru for Overall Loyalty to Dealer, and Tesla again for both Ethnic Market Loyalty to Make and Highest Conquest Percentage.
Tesla’s streak in this category started in 2022, and the brand has now won the Highest Conquest Percentage award for six straight years, meaning it keeps pulling buyers away from other brands at a rate no competitor has matched. Tesla’s retention among Asian households reached 63.6% and among Hispanic households 61.9%, rates that significantly outpace national averages for those groups. That breadth of appeal across demographics adds a layer of significance to a win that some might dismiss as routine.
The timing matters too. After several consecutive quarters of decline, Tesla’s share of U.S. EV sales jumped to 59% in Q4 2025. That rebound, arriving just as competitors were flooding the market with new models and incentives, suggests Tesla’s loyalty numbers are not simply the result of limited alternatives. Buyers are still choosing it when they have plenty of other options.
What keeps Tesla owners coming back has a lot to do with the and convenience of charging. The Supercharger network is the most straightforward example. With over 65,000 Superchargers globally, it remains the largest and most reliable fast-charging network in the world, and owners who have built their routines around it face a real practical cost when considering a switch. Competitors have made progress, but the consistency, speed, and availability of Tesla’s network is still the benchmark the rest of the industry is chasing. Then there is the software side. Tesla has built a model where the car you own today is functionally different from the car you bought two years ago, through over-the-air updates that add continuous game-changing improvements such as Full Self-Driving that has moved from a driver-assist feature to an increasingly capable autonomous system. For many Tesla owners, leaving the brand means starting over with a car that will not get meaningfully better over time, and that is a trade-off fewer and fewer are willing to make.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybercab just rolled through Miami inside a glass box
Tesla paraded a Cybercab in a glass display at Miami’s F1 Grand Prix event this week.
Tesla set up an “Autonomy Pop-Up” at Lummus Park in Miami Beach from April 29 through May 3, 2026, embedded within the official F1 Miami Grand Prix Fan Fest. The centerpiece was a Cybertruck towing the Cybercab inside a glass display case marked “Future is Autonomous,” rolling through the beachfront crowd.
Miami is on Tesla’s confirmed list of cities for robotaxi expansion in the first half of 2026, making the promotion a strategic promotion that lays groundwork in a target market.
This was not Tesla’s first time using Miami as a showcase city. In December 2025, Tesla hosted “The Future of Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami Design District showroom, coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach. That event featured the Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots interacting with attendees. The F1 pop-up this week marks Tesla’s return to Miami and follows a pattern Tesla has been running since early 2026. Just two weeks before Miami, Tesla stationed Optimus at the Tesla Boston Boylston Street showroom on April 19 and 20, directly on the final stretch of the Boston Marathon, letting tens of thousands of runners and spectators meet the robot for free, generating massive earned media at zero advertising cost.
Tesla is sending its humanoid Optimus robot to the Boston Marathon
Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year. On the production side, Musk told shareholders that the Cybercab manufacturing process could eventually produce up to 5 million vehicles per year, targeting a cycle time of one unit every ten seconds. Scaling robotaxis to 10 million operational units over the next ten years is a key condition of his compensation package, alongside selling 20 million passenger vehicles.
As for the Cybercab’s price, Musk has said buyers will be able to purchase one for under $30,000, with an average operating cost around $0.20 per mile. Whether those numbers hold through full production remains to be seen.
Cybercab at F1 Fan Fest in Miami
by
u/Joshalander in
teslamotors
Tesla crushes NHTSA’s brand-new ADAS safety tests – first vehicle to ever pass
Tesla to fix 219k vehicles in recall with simple software update
