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SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission is inspiring the world–despite White House snub (Op-Ed)
Objectively speaking, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission has the makings of a historic, perfectly inspiring and positive mission. It featured the first commercial spacewalk, it heralded the farthest that humans have traveled in 50 years, and its crew members included two American women who now had traveled the farthest from the Earth ever. It is a mission of milestones, and it has captured the hearts of people all over the world.
This was particularly the case in the mission’s third and fourth days. On Day 3, Mission Commander Jared Isaacson and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis successfully conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk, testing SpaceX’s EVA suits in the process. Videos of the spacewalk, which were broadcast using Starlink technology, were awe-inspiring. Needless to say, the images of Isaacman and Gillis outside Crew Dragon will be etched in history.
Polaris Dawn Flight Day 3 Update
Early Thursday morning at 7:58 a.m. ET, the Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed the world’s first spacewalk – also known as an extravehicular activity (EVA) – from Dragon at 732.2 km above Earth.
Shortly after arriving in space on… pic.twitter.com/ASEH6G3sR9— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 12, 2024
On Day 4, the crew members of the Polaris Dawn mission treated the Earth to the Harmony of Resilience, a stunning performance that featured crew member Gillis playing her violin inside Crew Dragon. The performance was accompanied by videos of several orchestras across the globe playing a piece from legendary composer John Williams with the SpaceX employee. It was a rather small demonstration compared to the previous day’s spacewalk and the multitudes of experiments that the crew would and has performed during their five-day mission, but it was something that encouraged hope nonetheless.
We are incredibly thankful to the legendary composer John Williams for helping us share this music moment with the world, featuring his iconic Rey’s Theme played in space pic.twitter.com/rfz1Henzms— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 13, 2024
There is no doubt that Polaris Dawn is inspiring the world. It is uniting it towards a positive cause too, with the mission’s official website directing visitors to donate to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, a facility with the bold goal of finding cures for kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Yet a look at social media today would show that a growing number of users are noticing something quite strange. Inasmuch as the Polars Dawn mission is capturing the hearts of people across the world, it seems to be earning a snub from the White House.
Polaris Dawn Flight Day 4 Update
After an exciting and historic spacewalk on Thursday, September 12, the crew spent the majority of their Flight Day 4 focused on science and research. Polaris Dawn partnered with 31 institutions from across the world to create a robust and… pic.twitter.com/BIArfsrDts— Polaris (@PolarisProgram) September 14, 2024
This was highlighted by Elon Musk’s mother, Maye, who ended up tagging several key politicians such as U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton in a post on social media platform X. Maye Musk’s post urged the officials to acknowledge the mission, as it would most certainly make them smile. Alas, a look at the officials’ current social media feeds shows that none have akncolwedged the mission as of writing.
Copying @POTUS @JoeBiden @VP @KamalaHarris @BarackObama @MichelleObama @BillClinton @HillaryClinton as they are unaware of an American rocket company @SpaceX connecting a violinist in space with musicians around the world @PolarisProgram will make you smile ? https://t.co/WzKhuV9QTn— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) September 13, 2024
This is quite unfortunate, considering that the Polaris Dawn mission is as American as one could be. It features American citizens traveling the farthest into space in decades, using an American spacecraft that was developed and built by an American company using American labor. It was also launched by an American company that now dominates the world’s launch sector. The Polaris Dawn mission, and SpaceX in general, is doing something that no commercial company has in the past, and one cannot help but think that in any other place or time, such a mission would likely get at least a small acknowledgment from the U.S.’ top government officials.
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Elon Musk
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
SpaceX’s Starship flew successfully Friday, landing both stages and deploying its first Starlink V3 satellites.
Starship’s thirteenth test flight delivered exactly what SpaceX needed with a clean liftoff, two successful stage recoveries, and the first real payload the vehicle has ever carried to space. Booster 20 and Ship 40 lifted off at 5:51 p.m. CT from Starbase, and by the time the mission wrapped roughly an hour later, both halves of the rocket had done exactly what they were supposed to do.
Booster 20 separated from Ship 40 a few minutes into the flight and stuck a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico about six minutes after liftoff. That is a meaningful turnaround from Flight 12 in May, when the booster lost several engines during its boostback burn before a hard water landing attempt.
Starship as seen from Starlink satellites pic.twitter.com/e2hvfmnewh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2026
Starship 40’s performance was arguably the bigger win. The vehicle deployed the first 20 operational Starlink V3 satellites Starship has ever carried, then flew a suborbital arc to a landing in the Indian Ocean that SpaceX commentator Dan Huot called the company’s softest splashdown yet. “This is a dream scenario for this team that’s trying to get this heat shield data,” Huot said on the live broadcast, according to Space.com’s live coverage. “I’m a little over the moon right now. Wow. Lucky number 13.”
Unlike the mass simulators SpaceX flew on Flight 12, these were production Starlink V3 satellites, meant to extend solar arrays and antennas and attempt to link with the broader constellation before reentering minutes later. Getting real hardware through a full deploy sequence on only the second flight of the V3 generation keeps Starship on schedule for the payload work NASA is counting on for future Artemis lunar landings.
What an awesome launch, really seems like everything went super well and it was all incredibly smooth.
SpaceX is awesome. Very interested to see how the market will respond on Monday pic.twitter.com/KSHmyBfV55
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 25, 2026
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 25, 2026
The flight also arrives at a moment when SpaceX needed a win. SPCX has traded below its $135 IPO price since mid-July, as Teslarati reported when the mission slipped to Friday, and short interest has climbed to roughly a third of the tradable float. A clean flight will not fix a balance sheet, but it does answer the one question SpaceX absolutely needed answered this week: whether the fixes made after the July 16 abort would hold up under real flight conditions. They did, on both stages, on the first try after the redesign.
SpaceX has not set a target date for Flight 14, though the company has said it wants to push toward an orbital attempt on the next mission. After Friday, that goal looks a lot more within reach.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner in Los Angeles dominated the company’s global usage rankings after just one year, proving the concept is more than just a one-off novelty location that will fade away.
The performance could incite the company to build more locations, something that CEO Elon Musk has hinted at for some time.
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner delivered 21.2 GWh of energy in its first year of operation, the company’s head of Charging, Max de Zegher, revealed on X. Of the top 10 most utilized Supercharger locations in Tesla’s global infrastructure, the Diner in Los Angeles was the most used by drivers, and it wasn’t particularly close:
Tesla Diner opened exactly 1 year ago. Inspiring that futuristic places like this exist.
It’s our highest usage Supercharger in the world: 21.2 GWh delivered in a year, 1.6k sessions/day.
Top 10 Superchargers by energy delivered: https://t.co/9YvJ8lw696 pic.twitter.com/koB3AUJHws
— Max (@MdeZegher) July 21, 2026
On its launch day one year ago, nobody was too sure what the Tesla Diner would be about. It seemed like an interesting concept, and considering it had been in the works for years, it was a highly anticipated launch that many were looking forward to.
Based on its success, we could see additional Diners with Superchargers built throughout the United States, and potentially beyond. Musk has said on several occasions that the company would be willing to bring the Diner idea to more markets.
Tesla makes major change at Supercharger Diner amid epic demand
Of the markets that Musk has mentioned, both Palo Alto and Austin have come to be perceived as ideal selections. However, there are no concrete plans as of now to build new Supercharger Diners anywhere; the location on Santa Monica Boulevard will remain the exclusive spot to pick up Tesla-inspired eats, at least for the time being.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Tesla’s Supercharger Diner probably just secured more locations
