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SpaceX shows off largest window in space after spectacular Inspiration4 launch
SpaceX has revealed the first on-orbit view of the largest window every launched on a rocket – and provided an update on the status of its first private astronauts – after Wednesday night’s spectacular Inspiration4 launch.
Around 8:03 pm EDT on September 15th (00:03 UTC 16 Sept), Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, sending four private astronauts – the world’s first all-private crew on an orbital spacecraft – into low Earth orbit (LEO). In the 18 hours since, now twice-flown Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience has successfully boosted its orbit from around 200 km (~120 mi) to around 580-590 km (360-365 mi) – the highest altitude ever reached by private astronauts and highest any human has traveled in approximately two decades (19 or 22 years).
Now safely in orbit on what’s expected to be a three-day journey in space, SpaceX also reports that Inspiration4 commander Jared Isaacman, pilot Sian Proctor, medical officer Haley Arceneaux, and specialist Christopher Sembroski are all “healthy, happy, and resting comfortably.” As early as this afternoon, the four private astronauts will wake up and potentially experience Crew Dragon’s cupola – the largest window by surface area ever flown to space or orbit – for the first time.
Following a spectacular post-sunset launch and a nearly five-hour webcast covering it, many have noted that SpaceX and Inspiration4 have practically gone silent after reaching orbit and that unlike Crew Dragon’s past three NASA astronaut launches, there has been no live coverage – and virtually no news at all – of the in-space cruise phase. It’s quite possible that one, several, or all of the four Inspiration4 crew members – all spaceflight rookies – are experiencing the common and uncomfortable “space adaptation syndrome,” referring to extreme nausea and discomfort as many as two-thirds of astronauts experience during their first hours or even days in microgravity.
If that’s the case, it would be no surprise that the crew might want privacy for the first 12-24+ hours and more generally to simply enjoy being in orbit – and higher than all but a few dozen humans have ever traveled – with some degree of peace. A great deal of photos and videos are still expected – but as part of Netflix’s Countdown documentary and only after the crew returns to Earth, rather than the live, immediate coverage SpaceX’s other Crew Dragon missions have had.
With another two days left in orbit, the Inspiration4 crew are scheduled to perform a few relatively minor experiments – mostly focused on health – but are mostly expected to simply enjoy being in space. Once they wake up and are able to open Dragon’s forward bulkhead hatch, they’ll get to experience the first-ever views out of the spacecraft’s cupola. A camera inside the nosecone cover will allow them to take some truly unique self-portraits with Earth, space, and even the Milky Way as backdrops – only really comparable to the occasional self-portraits taken by astronauts during spacewalks.
With any luck, SpaceX or Inspiration4 will share a few of those special photos later today. Barring on-the-fly changes, the four private astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth on Saturday evening. Stay tuned for further updates on the historic mission.
A Tesla Semi caught fire in Hayward, California, which caused both directions of traffic to shut down for hours before being completely reopened early on Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol said.
The fire occurred just after 5:30 local time in Hayward on Tuesday, as the Semi caught fire in the southbound lanes of I-880 before CHP officials made the decision to shut down both lanes of traffic due to potential risks from hazardous chemical smoke.
There were no injuries reported.
🚨 A Tesla Semi reportedly caught fire, with California Highway Patrol confirming. The Semi was on I-880 SB
An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 semi-truck and large commercial vehicle fires occur on U.S. roadways every year
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 28, 2026
The cause of the fire is currently unknown, as neither Tesla nor the CHP have not determined a cause.
However, some images taken before the Semi was completely destroyed by the fire seem to indicate this might have been an older unit, as it appears to be one of the designs that Tesla shipped as part of its pilot program, before revising it and starting mass production just a month ago.
@Tslachan From on of the videos looks like it’s an old Semi (not the refresh version that recently started production) https://t.co/KzwmR2kXow
— Area Under The Curve 🎗️ (@AreaUnderCurve) October 28, 2026
At the time of publication, CHP had not returned our request for a comment for additional details, including the Semi involved and any potential collaboration on an investigation between the CHP and Tesla. We will update this story when we hear back from them.
The southbound lanes were reopened at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with the northbound lanes opening last night a few hours after the fire began. The CHP did state that the lithium batteries were “incredibly difficult to extinguish,” according to NBC Bay Area.
The truck’s driver said that the Semi caught fire, but he did not have an explanation.
An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 semi-truck and large commercial vehicle fires occur on U.S. roadways every year.
Tesla’s launch of the “Emergency Drive Away” function a few months back offered owners a safe option to evacuate an area if they were in reasonable danger. The function finally got its first use in the real world, but it appears it was by mistake.
A video shared by u/Joshalander in the r/TeslaLounge subreddit recorded the instance from his vehicle and said the incident took place in Austin this past weekend during the city’s F1 Race.
“Was charging around 6 AM this past Sunday in Austin before heading to the F1 race and heard a pop. Looked over and saw the new emergency drive-away feature in action. Genuinely felt bad for the dude when he got out and realized what happened, since he looked exhausted and only seemed to half-read the prompts.”
🚨 Here’s the first look at Tesla’s Emergency Drive Away function in action:
Apparently this driver accidentally enabled it and drove forward; you can see the Supercharger pull with the car.
Tesla said previously this would cost up to $25k if not used properly. https://t.co/B4qQRrsO6B
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 28, 2026
Emergency Drive Away unlatches the Supercharger connector from the vehicle, but still causes damage to both the car and the Supercharger. Tesla has said that it will cost up to $25,000 in repairs to have everything fixed back to normal.
Additionally, the company said that if it were not used in an emergency situation, the driver of the vehicle who activated the Emergency Drive Away feature would be responsible for all repair costs.
Tesla constitutes the following situations as reasonable justifications for activating the feature:
- You face an immediate threat to your life or personal safety.
- You must leave the area immediately.
- Exiting the vehicle is unsafe.
- Unplugging the charge connector would unreasonably delay your departure or expose you to a risk to your personal safety.
After using the feature, Tesla requires the driver to schedule Service so the car can be inspected.
News
Tesla’s Cybercab battery design could make robotaxis even cheaper
Tesla built the Cybercab’s battery pack with spare room for a future switch to LFP.
Tesla built the Cybercab’s battery pack with empty space inside it on purpose, and the reason points to a cheaper robotaxi down the road.
Robert Sumpf, Tesla’s director of mechanical design engineering for battery modules and packs, said the extra room beside and beneath the Cybercab’s modules was left there so the company can move to lithium iron phosphate cells later. “So, we protected this pack to go to an even lower energy dense chemistry as we scale and need to bring LFP into the platform,” Sumpf said in a Cybercab deep dive with Munro Live.
The Cybercab runs on Tesla’s own 4680 cells with a nickel chemistry today. LFP cells store less energy for their size, so a straight swap would cut range. The reserved space lets Tesla add more LFP cells to make up the difference. In return, Tesla would get cells that cost less, run cooler and survive more charge cycles. LFP became the most used EV battery chemistry in the world last year.
Not all of that room was planned for a chemistry change. Lars Moravy, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, said part of it exists because “we didn’t need as many batteries as we thought we did.” Tesla told Sandy Munro in early 2025 that it was targeting a Cybercab pack under 50 kWh with close to 300 miles of range.
The pack also breaks from the structural design Tesla used in some Model Y and Cybertruck builds. Instead of potting hundreds of cells into one block, the Cybercab uses four separate, individually sealed modules, so a bad module can be replaced without scrapping the whole pack. Sumpf was blunt about the older approach, giving the Model Y structural battery “a grade D” because it was hard to build and nearly impossible to repair. He estimated a fully structural pack gains about 10% more cell volume, but said “the issue is the service cost.”
That cost matters more for a car that rarely sits parked. Cybercab chief engineer Eric Earley said replacing an entire pack “before half a million miles is a killer on cost,” which is why remanufacturing and serviceability were built into the design from the start.
The same Munro Live tour produced Moravy’s admission that the Cybercab line at Giga Texas is now outpacing Robotaxi deployments, along with a look at the robotaxi’s unorthodox paint process. Tesla is aiming to deliver the first Cybercabs to outside customers by the end of 2026, though Elon Musk has said the vast majority will stay owned by Tesla and run as a transport service.
Sumpf did not give a date for an LFP version, name a cell supplier or say how a chemistry change would affect range. For now, the 4680 cars keep piling up: Texas DMV records from Tuesday list 544 Cybercabs authorized for Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet, more than the 507 Model Ys on the same roster for the first time.
Tesla Semi catches fire in California: what we know
Tesla’s ‘Emergency Drive Away’ function gets its first use in the real world
