Connect with us

News

SpaceX launches NASA mission to study black holes, dead stars, and more

Falcon 9 streaks into orbit with NASA's IXPE X-ray observatory. (NASA & Richard Angle)

Published

on

SpaceX has successfully launched NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer telescope, paving the way for a unique aspect of black holes, a variety of dead stars, and other odd phenomena to be explored in unprecedented breadth and detail.

Marking the first time a NASA payload has launched on the fifth flight of a reused SpaceX rocket, Falcon 9 booster B1061 lifted off at 1am EST (06:00 UTC) to kick off the 330 kg (~730 lb) IXPE spacecraft’s journey to orbit. SpaceX’s workhorse rocket performed flawlessly. Just over eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s upper stage completed the first of two planned burns, entering a low parking orbit. About thirty seconds later, Falcon 9 B1061 stuck its fifth drone ship landing in 13 months, marking the end of another successful high-profile launch for the booster and ensuring that it will be able to complete many more such launches over the next few years.

Falcon 9 carries IXPE into orbit. (Richard Angle)

The first portion of the launch completed, Falcon 9’s upper stage then coasted in orbit for about 20 minutes before ignited for one last (very expensive) burn to place IXPE in its desired orbit. Known as a plane or inclination change, the maneuver – especially when performed deep in a large gravitational well – is exceptionally expensive, requiring an unintuitively large amount of launch vehicle performance (known as delta-V). The reason: IXPE’s nominal orbit is almost exactly equatorial, which Falcon 9’s Cape Canaveral launch site is about 28.5 degrees north of.

Lowering that inclination after launch requires a very energetic maneuver. Before Falcon 9 beat it out for the launch contract, IXPE was expected to launch on Orbital ATK’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket, which would have allowed IXPE to be launched at the equator. However, SpaceX ultimately submitted a bid to launch IXPE for just ~$50M – cheaper than its competitor despite the fact that Falcon 9 is more than 20 times larger and could potentially launch an entire Pegasus XL into orbit. However, while Falcon 9 is designed to launch almost 23 tons into orbit in an expendable configuration and more than 16 tons with booster and fairing recovery, it’s only capable of launching about 1-2 tons to IXPE’s desired combination of an equatorial inclination and a ~600 km (~370 mi) orbit.

Ultimately, Falcon 9 completed the inclination change without issue, marking the successful completion of its first equatorial launch ever and SpaceX’s 28th successful launch in 2021 alone. Unlike a significant majority of spacecraft, IXPE was launched directly into its operational orbit and will likely need just a few days to refine its position and a few weeks after that for ground controllers to verify the health of all its systems and deploy a 4m (`13 ft) long ‘boom’ needed to operate its unique telescope.

If or when everything is up and running, IXPE will spend a minimum of two years observing at least 50 of the weirdest objects and phenomena in the universe. While many of those objects can’t be directly imaged, IXPE’s goal is to analyze the polarization of X-rays – high-energy beams of radiation – they produce at sensitivities two orders of magnitude greater than any previous experiment. In theory, that should allow IXPE to put long-held laws of relativity and quantum physics to the test in some of the most extreme environments in the universe, including particularly exotic nebulae (giant gas clouds), black holes, and bizarre neutron stars (including lighthouse-like pulsars and magnetars – dead stars with magnetic fields strong enough to compress atoms into cylindrical rods and make the actual vacuum of space refract light like a crystal).

Advertisement

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.

Comments

News

Tesla posts Semi factory update, shares new Semi logo design

As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Tesla Semi itself.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Semi/X

Tesla has posted an update video on the construction of its Semi factory near Giga Nevada. 

The electric vehicle maker also shared the new logo of its Class 8 all-electric truck, which is pretty slick and classic Tesla at the same time.

Semi Factory Update

In the video, Tesla Semi program lead Dan Priestley stated that the last few months were spent building the factory shell of the facility, from its walls to its columns to its concrete floors. With the Semi factory shell completed, it is now time to equip the facility with the necessary equipment that would allow it to mass produce the Tesla Semi. The Tesla executive also shared the facility’s target output.

“This factory is designed with an annual capacity of 50,000 units a year. So over the next several quarters, we’re going to be industrializing the factory, installing the equipment, and preparing for high volume production. First units are set to be on the line by the end of this year, and we’ll be ramping the factory through 2026,” Priestley stated in the video. 

The Tesla Semi is arguably Tesla’s most underrated product, with the vehicle operating in real-world fleets over the past years. As per Priestley, there are a lot of exciting things coming to the Semi factory and the Semi itself. These things, the Tesla executive noted, would prove that electric trucking is ready to scale.

Advertisement

New Tesla Semi Logo

The end of the Tesla Semi factory update video featured a logo for the vehicle that had not been shared by Tesla before. Similar to the Cybertruck, it appears that Tesla will be giving the Semi its own stylized logo. Unlike the Cybertruck’s graffiti print, however, the Class 8 all-electric truck’s logo features the word “Semi” written in a futuristic, thin font. Interestingly enough, the “E” in the word “Semi” was written with three horizontal lines, similar to the Tesla Model 3’s original logo.

Below is the Tesla Semi’s new logo.

Credit: Tesla Semi/X

Continue Reading

News

Berlin Senator calls Tesla “Nazi” cars, pisses off Brandenburg because Giga Berlin is a giant employer

Kiziltepe’s comment garnered so much negative attention that she ended up deleting her post.

Published

on

Credit: Cansel Kiziltepe/X

It is no secret that Elon Musk is a lightning rod for controversy today, especially with his work with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But as could be seen in Germany’s reactions to a Berlin Senator’s post on X, you can criticize the man, but you do not go for the thousands of people that Tesla employs.

Strike Against Tesla

As noted in an rbb24 report, Berlin’s Labor Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) ended up pissing off a lot of people, especially in Brandenburg, after she dubbed Teslas “Nazi” cars on social media platform X. In her post, Kiziltepe wrote, “Who wants to drive a Nazi car?” She also shared a news article that highlighted Tesla’s decline in Germany in the first quarter, titled “Electric Car Manufacturers Experience Sales Boom—Apart from Tesla.”

Kiziltepe’s Tesla comment garnered so much negative attention that she ended up deleting her post. She did, however, share a follow-up which explained that her sentiments against CEO Elon Musk do not extend to the thousands that Tesla employs, especially in Germany. 

“Tesla is currently experiencing a sales slump because customers attribute the right-wing extremist positions of its shareholder Elon Musk, who holds around 13% of the company. I explicitly stand by my assessment of Elon Musk. Of course, this does not mean that I hold Musk’s employees or customers responsible for his political positions,” the senator wrote in her post on X.

Brandenburg Backlash

A lot of the anger that resulted from Kiziltepe’s post came from other officials, such as Brandenburg’s Minister of Economic Affairs and SPD party colleague Daniel Keller. The official’s sentiments are understandable considering that Tesla Gigafactory Berlin is the largest employer in the region, providing jobs to thousands of people in the area. 

Advertisement

“Such a Nazi comparison hurts the people who work there and is completely inappropriate for a labor senator. I expect the labor senator to retract her historically unacceptable comparison and return objectively to the major economic and labor market policy challenges that Berlin and Brandenburg should tackle together.

“Everyone can have their own personal opinion about Elon Musk. But it’s important to me that we don’t forget the people behind the Tesla factory in Grünheide. 11,000 people from 150 nations work here – more than half of the employees live in Berlin… Brandenburg and Berlin benefit from this in terms of employment and value creation,” Keller noted, highlighting that Giga Berlin provides well-paying, permanent jobs.

Equally Pissed Off

In a comment to the BZ newspaper, Brandenburg’s Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) stated that Kiziltepe’s comments were out of place, because in addition to the numerous Berliners who work at Giga Berlin, people from about 150 nations also work at the plant. Berlin CDU parliamentary group leader Dirk Stettner was more direct, stating that the Berlin Senator’s post was a “dangerous relativization of Nazi terror and thus also of the Holocaust.” 

The Berlin-Brandenburg Business Association (UVB) shared their frustrations with the senator as well, with General Manager Alexander Schirp stating that Kiziltepe’s comments were unbecoming of someone who sits at the Berlin Senate. Schirp also stated that the comments were an affront to Tesla employees. “This will not increase the manufacturer’s chances of investing in the capital. Statements of this magnitude do not bode well for the election campaign,” Keller stated.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Tesla Sweden defies unions again by opening yet another Supercharger

The site features 12 Superchrger V4 stalls that are ready to provide up to 250 kW to electric vehicles.

Published

on

Tesla Sweden’s issues with the country’s unions are not over yet, but the electric vehicle maker seems determined to support all EV drivers in the country anyway. As per industry watchers, Tesla Sweden recently opened yet another Supercharger, this time in the Municipality of Ödeshög. 

The new Supercharger benefits not just Tesla owners since it offers rapid charging services to other EV brands as well.

New V4 Tesla Supercharger

As per Tesla watcher @NicklasNilsso14, who has long been following the activities of the electric vehicle maker in Sweden, the newly opened Supercharger is located at Östgötaporten in Ödeshög. The site features 12 Superchrger V4 stalls that are ready to provide up to 250 kW to electric vehicles. Its location is good, too, as it was built near the E4 highway exit, making it close to amenities in the area.

The fact that the Supercharger serves not just Teslas but also electric vehicles from other brands will likely be appreciated by drivers in Sweden. Tesla Superchargers, after all, are among the most reliable and convenient rapid charging systems in the country.

Anti-Supercharger Union Efforts

Amidst Tesla’s conflict with IF Metall, other unions in the country have rolled out sympathy measures in an attempt to cripple the company’s operations. Two of the most notable are the Elektrikerna union and Seko, both of which have initiated efforts to block the launch of new Superchargers.

Advertisement

Unfortunately for the unions, Tesla is a very stubborn company, and it is also creative. Tesla also does not hesitate to use its resources to get around the measures being implemented by the unions. Earlier this month, for example, two new Supercharger sites were opened in the city of Södertälje. 

The new Södertälje Superchargers upset the unions, with a press officer for the Elektrikerna union stating that Tesla seems to be flying in people to help launch its Superchargers. “It is a good question how this has happened. We think it is unfortunate. But they seem to have their methods. They bring in foreign companies and fly in people, we think,” Bello noted then.

Continue Reading

Trending