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NASA plans to purchase another seat on Russian Soyuz after SpaceX
NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The collaboration is designed to give NASA more flexibility when it comes to launching crewed missions.
When the agency’s storied shuttle program came to an end in 2011, it left NASA dependent upon Russian rockets as its sole means of transporting astronauts to and from the space station. But the arrangement, which costs NASA roughly $85 million per seat, was always intended as a temporary solution.
NASA wanted to support a burgeoning commercial market, so it turned to private industry to build its next-generation space taxi. To that end, in 2014, the agency selected two companies — SpaceX and Boeing — to transport future crews. Each company would design and build its spacecraft capable of carrying humans. Six years later, SpaceX is set to become the first commercial company to transport astronauts, as its inaugural crewed flight prepares to take off on May 27.
The mission, known as Demo-2, is a flight test that will be used to certify the Dragon spacecraft for routine astronaut transport to and from the space station. During the mission, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will pilot the craft to the space station, where it will dock itself to the orbital outpost.
Their time on station is still to be determined, but the duo will make the most of their orbital stay. Not only will they evaluate how Dragon performs at different stages of the mission, but they will also assist fellow NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy with routine maintenance and station keeping.
Once Crew Dragon has been cleared to ferry people regularly, it will give NASA the flexibility to carry out missions of many different durations. To date, crews have spent anywhere from a couple of weeks in space, all the way up to a year. Their time on orbit is typically limited by the spacecraft that brought them, but by having multiple vehicles capable of flying to and from the space station, gives agencies around the world greater flexibility in mission planning.
Currently, NASA is in talks to purchase one more seat on a Russian Soyuz that would fly this fall. As it stands now, Chris Cassidy is the sole NASA astronaut on station, joined by two Russian colleagues. However, that leaves the station understaffed. Simply maintaining the orbital outpost is more than one crew member can handle. (A full space station crew is six.)
Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to launch on May 27 and will stay on station for as many as 110 days. That’s because their ride is only certified to stay in space that long. The harsh space environment wears on hardware, and the Crew Dragon’s solar arrays contain sensitive electronics that have a limited space life.
So what happens when Behnken and Hurley come home? At this point, the schedules are a little unclear, but Cassidy could remain on station by himself until the next crew can launch. While preparing for Demo-2, SpaceX is currently finishing construction on the capsule that will carry its first official crew. Four astronauts will fly on Crew Dragon sometime late this year or early next year, providing a fresh batch of astronauts.
In the meantime, NASA wants to make sure it will be able to have access to the space station, so it’s in talks with Roscosmos to buy one more seat. After that deal is made, NASA has a much different idea for the future of its partnership with the Russian space agency. During a series of briefings in advance of Demo-2, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine expressed how he hoped in the near future that NASA and Roscosmos could set up a trade agreement.
This would mean that U.S. astronauts would still fly on a Russian Soyuz and vice versa. Only instead of money exchanging hands, the two agencies would simply trade seats on each other’s vehicles. The first international partner to fly on a Crew Dragon will be Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), who will join NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Shannon Walker as part of the Crew-1 mission.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reiterates Tesla Optimus’ most sci-fi potential yet
Musk shared his comments in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Elon Musk recently reiterated one of the most ambitious forecasts for Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, stating it could become the first real-world example of a Von Neumann machine. He also noted once more that Optimus would be Tesla’s biggest product.
Musk shared his comments in a series of posts on social media platform X.
Optimus as a von Neumann machine
In response to a post on X that pondered on sci-fi timelines becoming real, Musk wrote that “Optimus will be the first Von Neumann machine, capable of building civilization by itself on any viable planet.” In a separate post, Musk wrote that Optimus will be Tesla’s “biggest product ever,” a phrase he has used in the past to describe the humanoid robot’s importance to the electric vehicle maker.
A Von Neumann machine is a class of theoretical self-replicating systems originally proposed in the mid-20th century by the mathematician John von Neumann. In his concept, von Neumann described machines that could travel to other worlds, use local materials to create copies of themselves, and carry out large-scale tasks without outside intervention.
Elon Musk’s broader plans
Considering Musk’s comments, it appears that Optimus would eventually be capable of performing complex work autonomously in environments beyond Earth. If Optimus could achieve such a feat, it could very well unlock humanity’s capability to explore locations beyond Earth. The idea of space exploration becomes more than feasible.
Elon Musk has discussed space-based AI compute, large-scale robotic production, and the role of SpaceX’s Starship in transporting hardware and materials to other planets. While Musk did not detail how Optimus would fit with SpaceX’s exploration activities, his Von Neumann machine comments suggest he is looking at Tesla’s robotics as part of a potential interplanetary ecosystem.
News
Tesla China January wholesale sales rise 9% year-on-year
Tesla reported January wholesale sales of 69,129 China-made vehicles, as per data released by the China Passenger Car Association.
Tesla China reported January wholesale sales of 69,129 Giga Shanghai-made vehicles, as per data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). The figure includes both domestic sales and exports from Gigafactory Shanghai.
The total represented a 9.32% increase from January last year but a 28.86% decline from December’s 97,171 units.
China EV market trends
The CPCA estimated that China’s passenger new energy vehicle wholesale volume reached about 900,000 units in January, up 1% year-on-year but down 42% from December. Demand has been pressured by the start-of-year slow season, a 5% additional purchase tax cost, and uncertainty around the transition of vehicle trade-in subsidies, as noted in a report from CNEV Post.
Market leader BYD sold 210,051 NEVs in January, down 30.11% year-on-year and 50.04% month-on-month, as per data released on February 1. Tesla China’s year-over-year growth then is quite interesting, as the company’s vehicles seem to be selling very well despite headwinds in the market.
Tesla China’s strategies
To counter weaker seasonal demand, Tesla China launched a low-interest financing program on January 6, offering up to seven-year terms on select produced vehicles. The move marked the first time an automaker offered financing of that length in the Chinese market.
Several rivals, including Xiaomi, Li Auto, XPeng, and NIO, later introduced similar incentives. Tesla China then further increased promotions on January 26 by reinstating insurance subsidies for the Model 3 sedan. The CPCA is expected to release Tesla’s China retail sales and export breakdown later this month.
News
Tesla’s Apple CarPlay ambitions are not dead, they’re still in the works
For what it’s worth, as a Tesla owner, I don’t particularly see the need for CarPlay, as I have found the in-car system that the company has developed to be superior. However, many people are in love with CarPlay simply because, when it’s in a car that is capable, it is really great.
Tesla’s Apple CarPlay ambitions appeared to be dead in the water after a large amount of speculation late last year that the company would add the user interface seemed to cool down after several weeks of reports.
However, it appears that CarPlay might make its way to Tesla vehicles after all, as a recent report seems to indicate that it is still being worked on by software teams for the company.
The real question is whether it is truly needed or if it is just a want by so many owners that Tesla is listening and deciding to proceed with its development.
Back in November, Bloomberg reported that Tesla was in the process of testing Apple CarPlay within its vehicles, which was a major development considering the company had resisted adopting UIs outside of its own for many years.
Nearly one-third of car buyers considered the lack of CarPlay as a deal-breaker when buying their cars, a study from McKinsey & Co. outlined. This could be a driving decision in Tesla’s inability to abandon the development of CarPlay in its vehicles, especially as it lost a major advantage that appealed to consumers last year: the $7,500 EV tax credit.
Tesla owners propose interesting theory about Apple CarPlay and EV tax credit
Although we saw little to no movement on it since the November speculation, Tesla is now reportedly in the process of still developing the user interface. Mark Gurman, a Bloomberg writer with a weekly newsletter, stated that CarPlay is “still in the works” at Tesla and that more concrete information will be available “soon” regarding its development.
While Tesla already has a very capable and widely accepted user interface, CarPlay would still be an advantage, considering many people have used it in their vehicles for years. Just like smartphones, many people get comfortable with an operating system or style and are resistant to using a new one. This could be a big reason for Tesla attempting to get it in their own cars.
Tesla gets updated “Apple CarPlay” hack that can work on new models
For what it’s worth, as a Tesla owner, I don’t particularly see the need for CarPlay, as I have found the in-car system that the company has developed to be superior. However, many people are in love with CarPlay simply because, when it’s in a car that is capable, it is really great.
It holds one distinct advantage over Tesla’s UI in my opinion, and that’s the ability to read and respond to text messages, which is something that is available within a Tesla, but is not as user-friendly.
With that being said, I would still give CarPlay a shot in my Tesla. I didn’t particularly enjoy it in my Bronco Sport, but that was because Ford’s software was a bit laggy with it. If it were as smooth as Tesla’s UI, which I think it would be, it could be a really great addition to the vehicle.
Elon Musk reiterates Tesla Optimus’ most sci-fi potential yet
Tesla China January wholesale sales rise 9% year-on-year
