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Chances are good that one of the three Falcon 9 boosters to the right is assigned to SpaceX's next launch, its first orbital mission in more than three months. (SpaceX) Chances are good that one of the three Falcon 9 boosters to the right is assigned to SpaceX's next launch, its first orbital mission in more than three months. (SpaceX)

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SpaceX’s ‘In-Flight Abort’ Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster arrive in Florida

According to NASA, the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule that will support SpaceX's In-Flight Abort (IFA) test both arrived in Florida within the last several days. (SpaceX)

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Approaching its second month between launches, SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters and their associated payloads continue to arrive in Florida in preparation for what will likely be a burst of several orbital launches in the final months of 2019.

On Tuesday, October 1st, local resident Marcos Hicks (@SpaceCoast_Life) and several other locals captured the latest arrival of a Falcon 9 booster in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This delivery comes just two weeks after Andrew Stoltz – another Space Coast local – lucked upon the arrival of a Falcon 9 payload fairing and one week after Arizona locals spotted a Falcon 9 booster heading East through the state.

On September 24th, an iconic and easily recognizable Falcon 9 booster was spotted heading East through Maricopa, Arizona, an extremely common (if not universal) pass-through point for SpaceX’s cross-country booster shipments. More likely than not, the booster spotted arriving in Cape Canaveral on October 1st is the same SpaceX rocket seen in Arizona one week prior, an indication that the Falcon 9 skipped testing in McGregor, Texas and is thus likely flight-proven.

https://www.facebook.com/CityOfMaricopaAZ/photos/a.926782984000491/2686488894696549/

48 hours later, NASA published photos of the arrival from SpaceX and announced that the rocket is, in fact, the flight-proven booster that will support the Crew Dragon’s critical In-Flight Abort test (IFA). SpaceX employees were still in the process of unwrapping the Falcon 9 booster, but enough of its body was visible to reveal soot, the telltale sign of a flight-proven SpaceX rocket. Impressively, the Crew Dragon that will support the spacecraft’s IFA test also apparently arrived in Florida in recent days.

According to NASASpaceflight.com, B1046 – the first Block 5 booster and first thrice-flown SpaceX rocket – is expected to support the critical Crew Dragon test flight. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has tweeted several times that there is a “high probability” that the booster will be completely destroyed during the suborbital test flight, a necessary sacrifice to prove that Dragon can escape from a failing rocket at any point during launch. SpaceX has a growing fleet of flight-proven boosters with multiple launches under their belts – B1046 will certainly be missed but its ‘retirement’ will impose no burden on the company’s launch manifest.

As stated in a recent FCC filing, Crew Dragon’s IFA test is scheduled to launch no earlier than (NET) November 23rd. The mission will proceed like any other routine Falcon 9 launch for the first 60 or so seconds, but will feature a “simulated orbital second stage” with a fake Merlin Vacuum engine that will almost certainly be smashed to pieces after Crew Dragon departs the rocket. It’s unclear if SpaceX will physically create failure conditions or if Crew Dragon’s abort will be directly triggered, but the spacecraft will ultimately ignite its SuperDraco abort system to speed half a mile away from the booster in just a few seconds.

This will occur during Max Q, the point during launch when the booster is experiencing maximum aerodynamic and thermal stresses, and Crew Dragon’s departure will essentially smash the rocket headfirst into a wall of supersonic air. The upper stage will likely disintegrate almost immediately, a process that will most likely lead to the destruction of the booster, as well.

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Crew Dragon’s onboard launch abort system consists of four “powerpacks” composed of two SuperDracos each, equating to eight SuperDraco thrusters capable of producing up to 570 kN (130,000 lbf) of thrust. SpaceX recently highlighted their confidence in the abort thrusters with a brief video that showed off testing and touted an impressive record of successful static fires and overall reliability.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Uj5lZlBG5/

As Teslarati previously reported, the window for the test launch is expected to open no earlier than (NET) November 23rd. With both the booster and spacecraft now in Cape Canaveral, Florida, it is increasingly likely that SpaceX will be able to complete the IFA test before the end of 2019, a milestone that would increase the odds of SpaceX and NASA attempting Crew Dragon’s astronaut launch debut sometime in early 2020.

Aside from Crew Dragon, SpaceX has plans for as many as four internal Starlink launches between now and the new year, potentially placing as many as 240 more high-performance ‘v1.0’ satellites in orbit. Regardless of the specifics of how the schedule actually shakes out, it looks like SpaceX is working hard to end 2019 with a burst of orbital launch activity.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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Tesla called ‘biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen’ by Yale associate dean

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is being called “the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen” by Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean Jeff Sonnenfeld, who made the comments in a recent interview with CNBC.

Sonnenfeld’s comments echo those of many of the company’s skeptics, who argue that its price-to-earnings ratio is far too high when compared to other companies also in the tech industry. Tesla is often compared to companies like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft when these types of discussions come up.

Fundamentally, yes, Tesla does trade at a P/E level that is significantly above that of any comparable company.

However, it is worth mentioning that Tesla is not traded like a typical company, either.

Here’s what Sonnenfeld said regarding Tesla:

“This is the biggest meme stock we’ve ever seen. Even at its peak, Amazon was nowhere near this level. The PE on this, well above 200, is just crazy. When you’ve got stocks like Nvidia, the price-earnings ratio is around 25 or 30, and Apple is maybe 35 or 36, Microsoft around the same. I mean, this is way out of line to be at a 220 PE. It’s crazy, and they’ve, I think, put a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Many analysts have admitted in the past that they believe Tesla is an untraditional stock in the sense that many analysts trade it based on narrative and not fundamentals. Ryan Brinkman of J.P. Morgan once said:

“Tesla shares continue to strike us as having become completely divorced from the fundamentals.”

Dan Nathan, another notorious skeptic of Tesla shares, recently turned bullish on the stock because of “technicals and sentiment.” He said just last week:

“I think from a trading perspective, it looks very interesting.”

Nathan said Tesla shares show signs of strength moving forward, including holding its 200-day moving average and holding against current resistance levels.

Sonnenfeld’s synopsis of Tesla shares points out that there might be “a little too much emphasis on the magic wand of Musk.”

Elon Musk just bought $1 billion in Tesla stock, his biggest purchase ever

This could refer to different things: perhaps his recent $1 billion stock buy, which sent the stock skyrocketing, or the fact that many Tesla investors are fans and owners who do not buy and sell on numbers, but rather on news that Musk might report himself.

Tesla is trading around $423.76 at the time of publication, as of 3:25 p.m. on the East Coast.

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Tesla makes big change to Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

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tesla cabin facing camera
Tesla's Cabin-facing camera is used to monitor driver attentiveness. (Credit: Andy Slye/YouTube)

Tesla is making a big change to its Full Self-Driving doghouse that drivers will like.

The doghouse is a hypothetical term used to describe the penalty period that Tesla applies to drivers who receive too many infractions related to distracted driving.

Previously, Tesla implemented a seven-day ban on the use of Full Self-Driving for those who received five strikes in a vehicle equipped with a cabin camera and three strikes for those without a cabin camera.

It also forgave one strike per week of Full Self-Driving use, provided the driver did not receive any additional strikes during the seven-day period.

Now, it is changing the timeframe of which strikes will be removed, cutting it in half. The strikes will be removed every 3.5 days, as long as no strikes are received during the time period.

The change was found by Not a Tesla App, which noticed the adjustment in the Owner’s Manual for the 2025.32 Software Update.

The system undoubtedly helps improve safety as it helps keep drivers honest. However, there are definitely workarounds, which people are using and promoting for monetary gain, and you can find them on basically any online marketplace, including TikTok shop and Amazon:

People are marketing the product as an FSD cheat device, which the cabin-facing camera will not be able to detect, allowing you to watch something on a phone or look through the windshield at the road.

The safeguards implemented by Tesla are designed to protect drivers from distractions and also protect the company itself from liability. People are still using Full Self-Driving as if it were a fully autonomous product, and it is not.

Tesla even says that the driver must pay attention and be ready to take over in any scenario:

“Yes. Autopilot is a driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.

Before enabling Autopilot, you must agree to “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.” Once engaged, Autopilot will also deliver an escalating series of visual and audio warnings, reminding you to place your hands on the wheel if insufficient torque is applied or your vehicle otherwise detects you may not be attentive enough to the road ahead. If you repeatedly ignore these warnings, you will be locked out from using Autopilot during that trip.

You can override any of Autopilot’s features at any time by steering or applying the accelerator at any time.”

It is good that Tesla is rewarding those who learn from their mistakes with this shorter timeframe to lose the strikes. It won’t be needed forever, though, as eventually, the company will solve autonomy. The question is: when?

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Elon Musk teases the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster once again

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Elon Musk has once again teased the capabilities of the Tesla Roadster, fueling the anticipation that many have for the vehicle, despite it still having no public production or delivery date.

The Roadster is among the most anticipated vehicles in the automotive sector currently, and as Tesla has teased its capabilities, from a lightning-fast 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration to potential hovering with cold-gas thrusters, people are eager to see it.

Although the design seemed to be finalized, there was still more work to be done. Earlier this year, as Tesla was showcasing some of the Roadster’s capabilities to Musk, he stated that it was capable of even more.

This pushed back its production date even further, much to the chagrin of those who have been waiting years for it.

Musk continues to tease us all, and as we sit here waiting hopelessly for it to be revealed, he said today that it is “something special beyond a car.”

Musk’s words were in response to a video posted by Tesla China, showing the Roadster in a new promotional video created by a fan.

The Roadster was planned to be released in 2020, but here we are in 2025, and there is still no sign of the vehicle entering production. However, Tesla did say earlier this year that it would host a demo event for the Roadster, where the company would showcase its capabilities.

Lars Moravy said earlier this year:

“Roadster is definitely in development. We did talk about it last Sunday night. We are gearing up for a super cool demo. It’s going to be mind-blowing; We showed Elon some cool demos last week of the tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.”

Tesla exec gives big update on Roadster, confirming recent rumor

The delays have been attributed to “radically increased design goals” for the vehicle, which have, without a doubt, improved its capabilities, but at the same time, we just want to know if it’s ever going to come.

Tesla can always make it “better,” but at what point do you say, “Okay, it’s time to show this thing off.” They could always build another, even more capable supercar in the next ten years.

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