News
NASA confirms the Sun’s new solar cycle; Moon and Mars missions will have to adapt
NASA just announced that our Sun began a new solar cycle this year – its 25th to be exact – after reaching a solar minimum in December 2019. Solar weather activity is now expected to increase for the next five years until reaching a maximum in July 2025. With several space missions planned during that time frame for both the Moon and Mars, the Artemis program, in particular, involving astronauts on board, extra preparation and consideration will have to be made to weigh the impact of the increasing radiation events.
“Space weather predictions are…critical for supporting Artemis program spacecraft and astronauts,” NASA’s announcement detailed. “Surveying this space environment is the first step to understanding and mitigating astronaut exposure to space radiation.”
Solar activity is tracked by agencies around the world by counting the number of sunspots (black spots) that appear on the Sun. Each one is an indicator of some type of high-energy activity such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, and their appearance means a large amount of Sun material has been ejected into space. This material can cause disruptions on Earth, in orbit, or on anything in the deep space region nearby our star. Satellites in particular have to cope with solar interruptions frequently, although algorithms and engineering tend to mitigate much notice from a consumer standpoint.

While the Artemis mission will certainly have to take on the new challenge of a Sun that’s becoming more and more active as time goes on, solar cycles aren’t something new to NASA’s human spaceflight program.
“As we emerge from solar minimum and approach Cycle 25’s maximum, it is important to remember solar activity never stops; it changes form as the pendulum swings,” explained Lika Guhathakurta, solar scientist at the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in the solar cycle announcement. “There is no bad weather, just bad preparation… Space weather is what it is – our job is to prepare,” added Jake Bleacher, chief scientist for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters.
When astronauts are orbiting the Earth, our planet’s magnetic field protects them from being directly hit by the majority of solar ejections; however, once outside that protective bubble and on their way to another deep space or lunar destination, things can be very dangerous. Radiation issues are often discussed when it comes to human space exploration, but scientists don’t seem to be short of ideas on how to handle it.
☀️ Hearing a lot about our Sun today?
Scientists just announced it’s in a new cycle — meaning that we expect to see solar activity start to ramp up over the next several years.
Find out how these cycles are tracked and how they can affect life on Earth: https://t.co/zerIWT0IWJ pic.twitter.com/e4FD6HD1hF
— NASA (@NASA) September 15, 2020
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, for example, has proposed passengers en route to Mars using water as shielding. During a solar flare event, all on board would move to a part of the Starship where the liquid was being stored and essentially use it like a basement during bad weather. Given that SpaceX plans to deal with radiation in the longer term via Mars colonization, there may be plenty of other developments coming from the rocket launch (and landing) company in the near future.
Aside from the scientists watching and studying the Sun’s solar activity, the European Space Agency currently has a space probe in orbit around our star. The spacecraft has been sending back the closest pictures of the Sun we’ve ever seen, and a few new features have been observed such as ‘campfires.‘ The probe’s overall mission involves studying and understanding the Sun’s solar cycles and hopefully make space weather prediction akin to the kind of meteorology we have on Earth.
“Just because it’s a below-average solar cycle, doesn’t mean there is no risk of extreme space weather,” Doug Biesecker, panel co-chair and solar physicist at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colorado, commented. “The Sun’s impact on our daily lives is real and is there. SWPC is staffed 24/7, 365 days a year because the Sun is always capable of giving us something to forecast.”
NASA held a live-streamed conference discussing the solar cycle announcement which you can watch below:
News
Tesla loses Model Y program manager in second blow in single day
Tesla has lost its Model Y Program Manager, he announced on LinkedIn, marking the second major departure from the company today.
Emmanuel Lamacchia has been in the role for 4 years and 7 months, responsible for the rollout of the all-electric crossover in several markets.
The Model Y became the best-selling vehicle in the world for two years under Lamacchia’s watch, making this a huge loss for the company. However, it seems the decision was made under Lamacchia’s own initiative.
He confirmed his decision on LinkedIn:
“After 8 incredible years, I’m moving on from Tesla.
What a journey it’s been… from leading NPI for Model 3 and Model Y variants to becoming the Vehicle Program Manager for Model Y, the best-selling car in the world!
Leading the All-New Model Y launch was the highlight: converting all 4 factories across 3 continents in just 2 weeks. Something that had never been done before in the auto industry.
To the teams who made this possible: you should be incredibly proud. This achievement belongs to you: the engineers, designers, buyers, and associates in Fremont, Shanghai, Berlin, and Austin who turned an impossible timeline into reality.
Grateful to the leaders who trusted me with programs that stretched my capabilities and to the cross-functional partners who showed me that great solutions come from collaboration, not hierarchy.
Tesla taught me how to move fast without breaking things and how to scale from prototypes to millions of units.
Excited for what’s next. More to share soon.”
It marks the second major program loss for Tesla today, as it also bid farewell to Cybertruck and Model 3 Program Manager Siddhant Awasthi, who said he left voluntarily in “one of the hardest decisions of his life.”
Lamacchia was at Tesla for just a shade under eight years, and previously worked for Rolls-Royce for roughly the same amount of time.
After the loss of both Lamacchia and Awasthi today, Tesla has lost a handful of key executives in 2025, including:
- David Imai, Director of Design
- David Lau, VP of Software Engineering
- Mark Westfall, Head of Mechanical Engineering
- Prashant Menon, Regional Director in India
- Vineet Mehta, Head of Battery Architecture
- Omead Afshar, VP/Head of Sales and Manufacturing in North America
- Milan Kovac, Head of Optimus Team
- Jenna Ferrua, Director of HR
- Troy Jones, VP of Sales, Service, and Delivery
- Pete Bannon, VP of Hardware Engineering
- Piero Landolfi, Director of Service
News
Tesla prepares to expand Giga Texas with new Optimus production plant
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer recognized Tesla construction crews performing ground leveling and clearing efforts at the plant earlier today.
Tesla is preparing to expand Gigafactory Texas once again with a brand new facility that will house the eventual manufacturing efforts for Optimus, its humanoid robot.
It is already building some units on a Pilot line at the Fremont Factory in Northern California, but Tesla is planning to build the vast majority of its Optimus project at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla Optimus gets its latest job, and it’s not in the company’s factories
It will build one million units per year in Fremont, but CEO Elon Musk said the company would build 10 million units every year in Texas at a new building at Giga Texas.
Musk said:
“I think there could be tens of billions of Optimus robots out there. Um, now obviously it’s very important we pay close attention to safety here. Then a 10 million unit uh per year production line here the I don’t know where we’re going to put the 100 million unit production line. on Mars. Maybe on Mars, I don’t know.”
Evidently, Tesla is ready to begin thinking about the production efforts of Optimus beyond a theoretical standpoint and is starting to prepare for the construction of the manufacturing plant on Giga Texas property.
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer recognized Tesla construction crews performing ground leveling and clearing efforts at the plant earlier today:
Giga Texas News!
A brand-new, stand-alone factory is starting construction! This follows the Shareholders meeting & info that a 10-million-per-year @Tesla_Optimus production facility “on the Giga Texas campus” will be built & enter into production in 2027!
Here are some… pic.twitter.com/7ig5DohfOt
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) November 10, 2025
Production is still slated for 2027, at least at Gigafactory Texas. As previously mentioned, the company is building some units in Fremont for the time being, at least until subsequent versions of the Optimus project advance.
Tesla has done a great job of advancing Optimus forward, but it also has truly grand expectations for the project.
Musk said it could potentially be the biggest product in the history of the planet, as it will revolutionize the way humans perform tasks, probably eliminating monotonous tasks from everyday life.
News
Tesla reveals its first Semi customer after launch
Tesla revealed its first customer for the all-electric Semi truck after it launches next year. Who it truly is should not be a surprise.
The Semi is going to finally start deliveries to new companies outside of Tesla’s pilot program starting in 2026. The company has been building a dedicated production facility in Reno, Nevada, that has finally taken shape, but Tesla was evidently not finished with the Semi’s development.
Last week at the Annual Shareholder Meeting, Tesla said it had implemented some new designs into the Semi, helping with efficiency, updating its design, and making it a more suitable vehicle for hauling loads, as the changes also helped increase payload.
Tesla has obtained a lengthy list of companies that have committed to implementing the Semi in their own fleets, hoping to bring their logistics lineups up to date with electric powertrains and autonomous technologies.
While it is already operating a pilot program with PepsiCo. and Frito-Lay, Tesla will expand to other businesses, primarily using it internally after its launch.
Head of the Semi program at Tesla, Dan Priestley, said the company would be the first user of the vehicle after its launch next year. It has been using it to a certain extent, but the company has not been able to completely abandon gas haulers.
Instead, it will implement the Semi into its fleet for more sustainable vehicle logistics starting next year:
Tesla will be the first customer as we electrify our supply chain. This includes Texas operations.
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) November 7, 2025
Tesla has already received orders for the Semi from a variety of large companies, including Walmart, Sysco, Anheuser-Busch, UPS, DHL, J.B. Hunt, among others.
Many analysts see the Tesla Semi as a major contributor to future growth and increasing value within the company, especially from a Wall Street perspective. Some firms say the Semi is one of several near and medium-term contributors to the company increasing its market cap.
Cantor Fitzgerald is just one of those firms, as last week it explicitly listed the Semi as a catalyst.
Analyst Andres Sheppard said, “Overall, we remain bullish on TSLA over the medium to long term. We continue to see meaningful future upside from Energy Storage & Deployment, FSD, Robotaxis/Cybercab, Semis, and Optimus Bots.”
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