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SpaceX’s next Crew Dragon astronaut launch slips into April

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NASA, SpaceX, and private customer Axiom Space have decided to slightly delay two of the company’s upcoming Crew Dragon launches, both of which are now scheduled to occur in April.

Originally planned to launch as early as late 2021 and more recently delayed from February 21st to March 30th, Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission has been pushed back once again and is now working towards a launch no earlier than (NET) 1:13 pm EDT (17:13 UTC) on Sunday, April 3rd. Ax-1 will mark a number of firsts but first and foremost, it will be the first fully private astronaut launch to the International Space Station (ISS) with no space agency-affiliated crew members aboard.

In response, to ensure “appropriate spacing for operations and post-flight data reviews between human spaceflight missions and to allow for multiple consecutive launch attempts based on the orbital mechanics for arrival to the space station,” NASA and SpaceX chose to delay Crew-4 – Dragon’s fourth operational astronaut transport mission – from April 15th to around 6:45 am EDT (10:45 UTC) on April 19th.

According to NASA and Axiom, Ax-1 was delayed to “allow teams to complete final spacecraft processing ahead of the mission,” implying that small delays in preparing Crew Dragon for flight are responsible for the slip. In Ax-1’s case, that’s somewhat understandable.

SpaceX has assigned Crew Dragon C206 (“Endeavour”) to the mission, making it the first time in history a space capsule is scheduled to launch astronauts into orbit for the third. Dragon C206 supported SpaceX’s inaugural astronaut launch – Demo-2 – in May 2020 and safely returned to Earth in August 2020. Fifteen months later, the same capsule carried four Crew-2 astronauts tp orbit, making SpaceX the second entity in spaceflight history to successfully reuse a crewed orbital spacecraft.

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Crew Dragon C206 is fished out of the ocean after a flawless crewed launch and reentry debut. (NASA)
Crew Dragon C206’s second ISS arrival; April 2021. (NASA)

Now, a little over five months after Crew Dragon C206’s second successful reentry and splashdown, the spacecraft is scheduled to launch another four astronauts – this time all private citizens – to the ISS. Possibly explaining some of the launch delays the mission has experienced, that means that Ax-1 – a crewed launch – will be the first time any Dragon 2 capsule flies for the third time. It would be little surprise if combining a reusability pathfinder mission with the safety requirements of crewed spaceflight resulted in a need for more inspections, testing, and analysis than initially expected.

Once the mission launches, Axiom-1’s crew of four – one former NASA astronaut turned private spaceship pilot and three wealthy passengers – will spend around 10 days in orbit and 8 days aboard the space station. For an April 3rd launch, they should thus return to Earth on April 13th, leaving NASA and SpaceX six days to recover Dragon, debrief the crew, analyze data from the mission, and prepare to launch Crew-4.

Falcon 9 B1062 is scheduled to launch Axiom-1 for its fifth mission. (Chance Belloise)
Crew-4 will be Falcon 9 B1067’s fourth launch. (Richard Angle)

Crew-4 will fly out of the same Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A pad, so the latest delay will also give SpaceX 16 days (instead of 12) to inspect the pad, complete any needed refurbishment, integrate Crew-4’s Falcon 9 and Dragon, and roll out the rocket for a static fire test a few days before liftoff

Crew-4 will debut a new Dragon capsule but both it and Ax-1 will use substantially reused Falcon 9 boosters. Axiom-1’s record-breaking Dragon will launch on Falcon 9 B1062, which will itself set a record as the first orbital-class rocket booster to launch humans on its fourth or fifth flight. Flying for the fourth time, Falcon 9 B1067 will launch Crew-4.

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Eric Ralph is Teslarati's senior spaceflight reporter and has been covering the industry in some capacity for almost half a decade, largely spurred in 2016 by a trip to Mexico to watch Elon Musk reveal SpaceX's plans for Mars in person. Aside from spreading interest and excitement about spaceflight far and wide, his primary goal is to cover humanity's ongoing efforts to expand beyond Earth to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere.

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Tesla bolsters Referral Program with big change and bigger rewards

The Tesla Referral Program offers benefits to both car buyers and existing Tesla owners, including complimentary Full Self-Driving trials, free Supercharging miles, and discounts on select purchases, such as cars.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has bolstered its Referral Program by offering more significant benefits for both the referrer and the referee. However, it only applies to certain vehicles in the Tesla lineup.

The Tesla Referral Program offers benefits to both car buyers and existing Tesla owners, including complimentary Full Self-Driving trials, free Supercharging miles, and discounts on select purchases, such as cars.

It changes relatively frequently, and is a great way to encourage people to buy a new car. Tesla is routinely making adjustments to it to stimulate demand, but the referral program likely does not encourage too many sales. Instead, it’s more of a reward for the referrer.

However, the latest adjustments are more substantial for both the buyer and the owner, offering pretty sizeable discounts on the purchase price of a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck.

There are also discounts for current owners, giving them money off of all five Tesla vehicles.

Here’s the rundown of the new Referral Program awards:

  • You’ll earn $250 in Tesla Credits for each person you refer who takes delivery of a new Tesla
  • The first 10 people who order a new Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck using your referral link and take delivery will receive $1,000 off their purchase
  • When you purchase a new Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck for yourself, you’ll get $1,000 off
  • When you purchase a new Model 3 or Model Y, you’ll get $500 off
  • Limited to 10 awards

This is a pretty big discount as $1,000 off a Model S, Model X, or Cybertruck is a nice benefit to three of Tesla’s most expensive vehicles.

The additional $500 off a Model 3 or Model Y is also a nice cushion. A similar Referral Program was launched by Tesla last August.

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Tesla adjusts ‘Actually Smart Summon’ to avoid one common complaint

Tesla is adjusting Summon Standby’s settings slightly to combat the loss of battery life some owners might see with the feature active.

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tesla summon
Credit: YouTube/Hector Perez

Tesla has adjusted one portion of its “Actually Smart Summon” (ASS) feature to address a common complaint from owners: battery drain.

Teslas have a lot of really awesome features that make them one of the most technologically advanced vehicle models on the market. Things like Sentry Mode, Cabin Overheat Protection, and ASS’s “Summon Standby” features all keep the car on its toes for anything that comes its way.

Tesla finally launches Actually Smart Summon and Dumb Summon

However, the activation of these features contributes to battery drain while the vehicle sits parked. The amount varies, but I personally have lost up to five percent with some of these features active. That’s a lot if you do not utilize home charging.

Tesla is doing what it can to combat the battery drain with each of these features. It has done so with Sentry Mode, as an update last year helped combat battery percentage loss due to the activation of the security feature.

Tesla is about to ship a fix to a big Sentry Mode issue

It also recently introduced “Low Power Mode,” which will automatically deactivate some features if your battery falls below 20 percent. This is a great way to combat battery loss if your car is parked somewhere long-term, like an airport, for example.

There is also another feature that is attached to ASS called “Summon Standby.” This keeps the vehicle awake in case the owner needs quick connectivity to the vehicle, allowing them to summon the car to their location swiftly.

But there’s a drawback: keeping this feature activated will drain the battery. By default, the feature is activated when you take your car home, so you have to turn it off manually by accessing the settings menu inside the vehicle.

Turning this off would save you between 2% and 3% overnight, in my experience. With ASS still being a feature that needs some work, I chose to turn Summon Standby off. ASS will still work with the standby mode deactivated; it will just take a few more seconds for your phone to connect to the vehicle.

Tesla is adjusting Summon Standby’s settings slightly to combat the loss of battery life some owners might see with the feature active.

According to Not a Tesla App, Tesla has rolled out two conditions for which Summon Standby will be deactivated automatically:

Overnight Deactivation

Summon Standby will automatically be deactivated from midnight to 6 a.m. every night, which appears to be a data-driven decision made by Tesla based on the feature’s least-used hours.

This automatic pause cannot be turned off, at least for the time being.

Extended Parking Deactivation

If your Tesla is parked for over 24 hours, Summon Standby will also be deactivated automatically.

This is a great way to save battery life for those who are on vacation or are at home for several days in a row. This works similarly to the Low-Power Mode we talked about earlier in this article.

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Neuralink is planning to launch US trials translating thoughts into text

The trial could help pave the way for people with speech impairments to communicate more quickly and efficiently.

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Credit: Neuralink

Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface company, is reportedly planning to start a US clinical trial in October to use its technology to translate thoughts directly into text. 

The trial was approved by the FDA under an investigational device exemption, and it could help pave the way for people with speech impairments to communicate more quickly and efficiently.

Thought-to-text technology

The upcoming trial aims to read speech directly from the brain, enabling participants to transmit words without moving their mouths or using a keyboard, as noted in a report from Bloomberg News.

DJ Seo, Neuralink’s president, told an audience at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies in Seoul that the company hopes to demonstrate communication with large language model AI platforms “at the speed of thought,” potentially faster than spoken speech.

“We think that it’s actually possible to demonstrate abilities to speak to the latest AI model, or LLM models, at the speed of thought, even faster than how you’re speaking, and being able to potentially get that information back through your AirPods, effectively closing the loop,” Seo stated.

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Production ambitions

Ultimately, Seo described the trial as a stepping stone toward broader human enhancement and consumer-facing applications, beyond the company’s initial focus on medical conditions like ALS, stroke, blindness, and Parkinson’s disease.

While initial implants will focus on patients with severe speech impairments, Neuralink plans to eventually expand to healthy individuals by 2030. The company aims to scale to 20,000 implants per year by 2031.

“We’re currently envisioning a world where, in about 3 to 4 years, there will be someone who’s otherwise healthy who’s going to get a Neuralink. If you’re imagining saying something, we would be able to pick that up,” the executive noted.

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