News
NASA Mars rover completes preflight checks ahead of this week’s launch
NASA’s Perseverance rover headed for Mars this week officially cleared all required Flight Readiness Reviews, pushing the mission one step closer to its launch pad rollout and liftoff. Launch provider ULA (United Launch Alliance) announced the milestone earlier today.
“The Launch Readiness Review (LRR) has given the approval to continue preparations for Thursday’s liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Mars 2020 mission,” ULA’s official mission page stated. “Leadership from ULA, NASA and the Space Force assessed the readiness of the rocket, payload and mission assets, discussed the status of pre-flight processing work, heard technical overviews of the countdown and flight, and previewed the weather forecast that continues to be favorable with an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions. At the conclusion of the meeting, senior leaders were polled and gave a unanimous ready status for launch, then signed the Launch Readiness Certificate.”
“I just want to say that the launch readiness review is complete and we are ‘go’ for launch.” Administrator @JimBridenstine shares the latest for the July 30 launch of our @NASAPesereve rover. #CountdownToMars https://t.co/JXscvTFIRt pic.twitter.com/yVEHYrHq4J
— NASA (@NASA) July 27, 2020
NASA followed with two separate live-streamed conferences in an effort to both inform and engage the public about the mission’s details and goals. During the first pre-launch event, key executives for the mission expressed their pride in the Perseverance rover team while making particular note of the challenging circumstances faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Every day was taking the kids to work day,” mused Omar Baez, NASA’s Senior Launch Director.
Keeping the 2020 Mars rover mission on schedule has been vitally important compared to other launches due to the timing involved with the seven-month journey to the red planet. “We have a 20 day planetary launch window, and if we miss it, we’re pushing out another couple of years,” explained Matt Wallace, Perseverance’s Deputy Project Manager, during the first conference. NASA’s second conference of the day focused on the engineering details behind the rover’s instruments to fulfill its three primary missions of seeking signs of life, collecting/caching samples, and testing future technologies.
“I would have never thought that a launch director would be working from home, and I’ve done that for the last 5 months.” @NASA_LSP Launch Director Omar Baez shares how the whole @NASAPersevere team adjusted to work in today’s environment. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/rxO49EG5SL
— NASA (@NASA) July 27, 2020
The 2020 rover has many unique instruments that make it stand out from NASA’s other rovers and landers currently residing on Mars. As part of making the search for ancient microbial life its mission priority, Perseverance has a large robotic arm with a multi-bit drill attached for gathering and storing scientifically interesting samples. These specimens will later be brought to Earth as part of a “sample return” mission.
NASA’s newest Mars rover will additionally have two technology tests aboard – one that generates oxygen from the planet’s carbon dioxide atmosphere, the other a small helicopter for gathering aerial data, and enabling more widespread travel possibilities. Perhaps most relatable to many humans’ day-to-day, however, is Perseverance’s “selfie” capabilities. Not just limited to snaps surrounded by regolith and red mountains, once descent and landing begin from Martian orbit, the rover’s numerous cameras will capture the entire event on video and send the footage back to NASA’s team and the public alike.
Perseverance will accomplish its tasks using power provided by a plutonium-238 nuclear energy source with a 14-year lifespan. As the isotope decays, heat is generated and converted into electricity to charge the rover’s batteries. This part of the mission was activated and loaded with Perseverance into its ULA Atlas V rocket last week.
NASA plans the mission’s launch pad rollout tomorrow with an early morning liftoff on Thursday, July 30th.
News
Tesla Europe rolls out FSD ride-alongs in the Netherlands’ holiday campaign
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
Tesla Europe has announced that its “Future Holidays” campaign will feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) ride-along experiences in the Netherlands.
The festive event series comes amid Tesla’s ongoing push for regulatory approval of FSD across Europe.
The Holiday program was announced by Tesla Europe & Middle East in a post on X. “Come get in the spirit with us. Featuring Caraoke, FSD Supervised ride-along experiences, holiday light shows with our S3XY lineup & more,” the company wrote in its post on X.
Per the program’s official website, fun activities will include Caraoke sessions and light shows with the S3XY vehicle lineup. It appears that Optimus will also be making an appearance at the events. Tesla even noted that the humanoid robot will be in “full party spirit,” so things might indeed be quite fun.
“This season, we’re introducing you to the fun of the future. Register for our holiday events to meet our robots, see if you can spot the Bot to win prizes, and check out our selection of exclusive merchandise and limited-edition gifts. Discover Tesla activities near you and discover what makes the future so festive,” Tesla wrote on its official website.
This announcement aligns with Tesla’s accelerating FSD efforts in Europe, where supervised ride-alongs could help demonstrate the tech to regulators and customers. The Netherlands, with its urban traffic and progressive EV policies, could serve as an ideal and valuable testing ground for FSD.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
News
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.
Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October.
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.
Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.
The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.
This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.
For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.
Investor's Corner
Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
