News
NASA Mars rover promises blazing entrance after China, UAE make it to Mars orbit
The month of the robotic invasion of Mars is upon us. Seven months ago, the United States, China, and the United Arab Emirates launched missions on a 300 million mile (480 million kilometer) journey to Mars.
Last week, two of the three missions quietly arrived and inserted themselves into Mars orbit. The final spacecraft to arrive, NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission, however, will not go gently into the Martian atmosphere. On Thursday, February 18, NASA’s latest Mars mission destined to uncover evidence of ancient microbial life on the distant planet is set to touchdown following a spectacular display of extremely complex engineering.
Getting to Mars
Launching to the Red Planet is a strategic maneuver that can only be completed once every two years. This is due to the varying speeds and the elliptical shape of the planets’ orbits around the sun. The point at which Earth and Mars are aligned close enough to minimize travel time, called an opposition, occurs only once every two years.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
The most recent opposition occurred in July 2020. Four international Mars missions were intended to leave Earth that summer, however, due to required further certification of parachutes the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover would have to wait for its launch opportunity during the next planetary opposition to occur in 2022. That left three robotic invaders from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and China to escape Earth’s orbit and become interplanetary superstars.
Hope arrives to Mars
The United Arab Emirates Space Agency’s first-ever interplanetary mission, a spacecraft named Al-Amal, or the Hope Probe, was developed in collaboration between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, Arizona State University, and the Space Sciences Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. It was launched on July 19, 2020, from Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan aboard an H2A202 rocket. On Tuesday, February 9, the Hope Probe was the first of the three missions to complete the journey to Mars and successfully insert itself into orbit.
The Hope Probe arrived to near-Mars orbit traveling approximately 75,000 mph (121,000 kph), far too fast to successfully achieve a safe Martian orbital insertion maneuver. In order to slow down to the approximate 11,000mph (18,000 kph) needed to be captured by Mars orbit, the spacecraft had to autonomously fire its main thrusters and perform a Mars Orbit Insertion burn lasting an agonizing 27 minutes. To compensate in the instance of a thruster failure, there was a backup safety protocol that would’ve doubled the length of the burn. After 27 grueling minutes, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Center located in Dubai reported that the maneuver was completed successfully and the Hope Probe had arrived at its final destination.
Unlike the American and Chinese missions to Mars which will land rovers on the surface, the United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe will remain in Mars orbit for the duration of its mission – approximately two Martian years. The spacecraft is equipped with a suite of three instruments, two spectrometers – one infrared and one ultraviolet – to study the Martian atmosphere, and one imager to capture high-resolution images to study the surface from afar.
China’s Tianwen-1 Rover will hang out in orbit before landing in May
The same type of Mars Orbit Insertion maneuver was completed by China’s first interplanetary mission, the Tianwen-1 spacecraft. Launched from China on July 23, 2020, Tianwen-1 arrived at Mars orbit just one day after the Hope Probe on Wednesday, February 10.
The Tianwen-1 spacecraft had to autonomously complete an excruciating 11-minute “braking” burn to slow down which took it behind the planet as it was captured by Mars gravity and entered into orbit.
Like NASA’s Perseverance, the Tianwen-1 mission features a rover that will eventually land on the surface of Mars. The process to get the rover to the surface, however, varies from that of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission.
The Tianwen-1 spacecraft is made of two components, an orbiter and a rover. Currently, it is planned that the orbiter will spend some time in Mars orbit for a period of comprehensive observation before attempting a landing of the rover in May. Ideally, the spacecraft will then touch down in a region known as Utopia Planitia.
The update that's rolling out to the fleet makes full use of the front and rear steering travel to minimize turning circle. In this case a reduction of 1.6 feet just over the air— Wes (@wmorrill3) April 16, 2024
Once the rover safely makes it to the surface it will initiate the investigation period of the mission. The rover carries a suite of scientific instruments that will be used to investigate the composition of the Martian surface searching for the potential distribution of water and ice. Similar to China’s Yutu 2 rover which is exploring the Moon, the Tianwen-1 rover also carries a panoramic camera to image the planet.
Perseverance and Ingenuity like no other
The last of the three Mars missions – NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission launched on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. As far as Mars arrivals go, the best has certainly been saved for last. Following the success of the other two missions from China and the United Arab Emirates, the stage is set for Perseverance to make its dramatic entrance.
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is by far the most ambitious mission to launch to Mars during the 2020 planetary transfer window. NASA is not attempting to land one, but two spacecraft on the surface of Mars. The $2.4 billion Mars 2020 mission is comprised of the Perseverance rover – powered by the heat produced by radioactive decay of Plutonium – and a first of its kind rotary helicopter called Ingenuity. It is scheduled to arrive in dramatic fashion on Thursday, February 18.
Rather than conducting a braking maneuver to slow down and enter Mars orbit, the Perseverance spacecraft will autonomously conduct the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) procedure – essentially going from traveling several thousand miles an hour to descending slowly under a parachute canopy to softly land in mere minutes.
The spacecraft – housed in a protective aeroshell with its robust heat shield facing the planet’s surface – will burst into Mars’ atmosphere traveling nearly 12,500 mph (20,000 kph). Once through, Pesevereance will ditch its heat shield and autonomously begin scanning the Martain terrain to determine its relative location and make adjustments to find an optimal landing spot. Then, a powered descent module will deploy transporting the rover the rest of the way down slowing to less than 2mph (3kph). Finally, the descent module will hover and deploy a complex harness system lowering Perseverance – and its stowaway, the Ingenuity helicopter – to the Martian surface for touchdown.
After seven months of interplanetary travel, it all comes down to the final seven minutes – the length of time the EDL process is expected to take. All spacecraft controllers back on Earth can do is watch and wait for that final telemetry reading indicating that Perseverance has successfully touched down. That is why this process has earned the nickname “seven minutes of terror.”
Beginning around 11:15 am PST (19:15 UTC) on Thursday, February 18th, NASA will provide live coverage of Perseverance’s landing attempt. The agency will carry the coverage on NASA TV and its website, as well as a number of other platforms including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion, Theta.TV, and NASA App.
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News
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
The Tesla Model X was the fastest-selling used vehicle in the United States in the first quarter of the year, crushing every other used car in America.
iSeeCars data for the first quarter shows that the Model X was the fastest-selling used car, lasting just 25.6 days on the market on average, two days better than that of the second-place Lexus RX 350h. The Cybertruck, Model Y, and Model S, in seventh, ninth, and thirteenth place, respectively, also made the list.
The Model X is one of Tesla’s flagship models, the other being the Model S. Earlier this year, Tesla confirmed it would discontinue production of both the Model S and Model X to make way for Optimus robot production at the Fremont Factory in Northern California.
Tesla brings closure to flagship ‘sentimental’ models, Musk confirms
Bringing closure to these two vehicles signaled the end of the road for the cars that have effectively built Tesla’s reputation for luxury and high-end passenger vehicles.
Relying on the sales of its mass market Model Y and Model 3, as well as leaning on the success of future products like the Cybercab, is the angle Tesla has chosen to take.
Teslas are also performing extremely well as a whole on the resale market. iSeeCars data shows that, “while the average price of a 1- to 5-year-old non-Tesla EV fell 10.3% in Q1 2026 year-over-year, the average price of a used Tesla was essentially flat at 0.1% lower across the same period. Traditional gas car prices dropped 2.8% during this same period.”
Additionally, market share for gas cars has dropped nearly 3 percent since the same quarter last year. Tesla has remained level, while the non-Tesla EV market share has increased 30 percent, mostly due to more models available.
Nevertheless, those non-Tesla EVs have seen their value drop by over 10 percent, while Tesla’s values have remained level.
Executive Analyst Karl Brauer said:
“Used electric vehicles without a Tesla badge have lost more than 10% of their value in the past year. This compares to stable values for Teslas and hybrids, and a modest 2.8% drop for traditional gasoline vehicles.”
Teslas, as well as non-luxury hybrids, are displaying the strongest resistance in the face of faltering demand, the publication says. But the more impressive performance is that of the Model X alone.
Tesla’s decision to stop production of the Model X may have played some part in the vehicle’s pristine performance in Q1. With the car already placed at a premium price point, used models are already more appealing to consumers. Perhaps second-hand versions were more than enough for those who wanted a Model X, and only a Model X.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
After Tesla decided to build a Rear-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck trim back in 2025, which was void of many features and only featured a small discount.
The head-scratching offering was only available for a few months, and evidently, it did not sell very well, which we all suspected. New recall documents on the vehicle from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reveal just how poorly it sold.
The recall deals with a potentially separating wheel stud and potentially impacts 173 Cybertruck units with the 18-inch steel wheels. The Cybertruck RWD was the only trim level to feature these, and the 173 potentially impacted units represent a portion of the population of pickups. Therefore, it’s not the entire number of RWD Cybertruck sold, but it could show how little interest it gathered.
The NHTSA document states:
“On affected vehicles, higher severity road perturbations and cornering may strain the stud hole in the wheel rotor, causing cracks to form. If cracking propagates with continued use and strain, the wheel stud could eventually separate from the wheel hub.”
Only 5 percent are expected to be impacted, meaning less than 10 units will have the issue if the NHTSA and Tesla estimates are correct. Nevertheless, the true story here is how terribly the RWD Cybertruck sold.
Tesla ended production and stopped offering the RWD Cybertruck to customers last September. For just $10,000 less than the All-Wheel-Drive trim, Tesla offered the RWD Cybertruck with just one motor, textile seats instead of leather, only 7 speakers instead of 15, no Rear Touchscreen, no Powered Tonneau Cover for the truck bed, and no 120v/240v outlets.
For just $10,000 more, at $79,990, owners could have received all of those premium features, as well as a more capable All-Wheel-Drive powertrain that featured Adaptive Air Suspension. The discount simply was not worth the sacrifices.
Orders were few and far between, and sources told us that when it was offered, sales were extremely tempered because customers could not see the value in this trim level.
Even Tesla’s most loyal supporters thought the offering was kind of a joke, and the $10,000 extra was simply worth it.
News
Tesla Semi sends clear message to Diesel rivals with latest move
The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.
Tesla has officially launched Semi production at what will be a mind-boggling rate of approximately 50,000 units per year.
The truck is being built at a dedicated facility in Sparks, Nevada, just next to its Gigafactory Nevada facility.
The company finally announced on April 29 that the first Tesla Semi truck has rolled off its new high-volume production line at the factory. This marks the transition from limited pilot builds to scaled manufacturing for the Class 8 all-electric heavy-duty truck, nearly nine years after its dramatic 2017 unveiling.
🚨 Tesla Semi mass production is underway in Nevada!
HUGE! https://t.co/ohgQIiI2bK pic.twitter.com/23GvWr8D27
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) April 29, 2026
Tesla initially promised high-volume deliveries by 2019–2020, but battery supply constraints and prioritization for passenger vehicles delayed progress. The new 1.7-million-square-foot factory, purpose-built next to Gigafactory Nevada’s 4680 cell production lines, resolves those bottlenecks through deep vertical integration.
The Semi uses Tesla’s structural battery packs with cylindrical 4680 cells manufactured on-site. This integration enables efficient supply, reduced logistics costs, and the potential for high output. The factory is designed for an eventual annual capacity of approximately 50,000 trucks, positioning Tesla to address growing demand in long-haul freight electrification.
Tesla is using a redesigned Cybertruck battery cell to mitigate Semi challenges
Operating economics favor the Semi through dramatically lower fuel and maintenance costs compared to traditional diesel rigs, and companies involved in a pilot program for the Semi with Tesla have shown that.
Electricity is far cheaper than diesel on a per-mile basis, while the electric powertrain features fewer moving parts, reducing service intervals and lifetime expenses. Early deployments with customers like PepsiCo and others have validated these advantages in real-world service.
The Nevada factory’s ramp-up is targeted for full volume output before the end of June 2026, aligning with broader Tesla production goals for 2026. This includes parallel efforts on other new vehicles while expanding the Megacharger infrastructure to support widespread adoption.
By localizing battery and truck production, Tesla gains advantages in cost, quality control, and scalability that many competitors sourcing cells externally lack. The start of high-volume Semi production represents a pivotal step in Tesla’s strategy to electrify heavy transportation, potentially accelerating the shift toward zero-emission freight across North America and beyond.
As output increases, the Semi could reshape long-haul logistics with its combination of performance, efficiency, and sustainability.
Tesla Model X shocks everyone by crushing every other used car in America
Tesla Cybertruck’s head-scratching trim sold terribly, recall documents reveal
