Elon Musk Archives - The Silver Ink

SpaceX abort system where astronauts can escape during spaceflight

May 25, 2015 By Stephanie James 1 Comment

Space X has released the latest footage of the Pad Abort Test of its Crew Dragon Capsule on Friday, which was launched earlier in May.

The unmanned space was designed to test the effectiveness of the company’s new capsule abort system.

The abort system will allow astronomers to steer clear from a malfunctioning rocket during a failed launch.

It was reported that the Pad Abort Test for the Crew Dragon was a success.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX said, “It was a great, great outcome, had there been people on board, they would have been in great shape.”

It was a 2 minute video clip , where the recording was from the perspective of a passenger inside the space vehicle.

It starts off with the crew Dragon capsule preparing to blast off on its launch pad in Florida.

The capsule’s propulsion system then activates its rocket, sending the spacecraft soaring through the sky.

SpaceX reported that the Crew Dragon was able to reach a maximum velocity of 345 miles per hour during the test.

At around the 30 second of the video, it can be seen that the capsule separated from its trunk and deploys its parachutes to stabilize its flight.

The three main chutes are then released to allow the spacecraft to safely descend toward the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

The test of the Crew Dragon Capsule lasted for one minute and 39 seconds from the launch of the capsule until it descended in the water,

The spacecraft during the test flew 5,000 feet above the ground.

SpaceX explained, “Crew Dragon’s abort system is powered by eight SuperDraco engines which together produce 120,000 pounds of axial thrust. The engines are integrated directly into the sides of the vehicle rather than carried on top of the vehicle as with previous launch abort systems. This configuration provides astronauts escape capability from the launch pad all the way to orbit and allows the spacecraft to use the same thrusters to land propulsively on land at the end of a mission.”

Tesla unveils powerwall, a solar powered battery for home

May 3, 2015 By Dave Smith 1 Comment

Tesla motors at an event at the company’s Los Angeles design studio have unveiled powerwall home battery.

Elon Musk, Chief executive of Tesla has unveiled the new product; the battery is designed to work in conjunction with solar powered homes.

Elon Musk is the founder of the private spaceflight company SpaceX. It is one of the successful private companies. SpaceX sends cargo to International Space Station.

One of the goals of Musk at SpaceX is to colonize Mars.

Musk at the event said, “Our goal here is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy.”

The battery will be manufactured by Tesla but it will be sold by several companies that install and maintain solar panels in commercial and residential environments.

Musk is the largest shareholder and chairman of SolarCity, a national company funded by two of the entrepreneur’s family members Lyndon and Peter Rive.

The price of the battery is from $3,000 to $3,500 depending on the capacity of battery. So the price range of the battery at present makes it difficult for the customers to afford it.

Peter Rive, chief technology officer of SolarCity said, “I don’t believe this product in its first incarnation will be interesting to the average person,” he also believes that there can be enough demand to increase the number of batteries in homes.

Musk by looking at the initial demand believes that Tesla and other future entrants can sell 2 billion battery packs around the world.

But for the prediction to come true it will take a lot of time. Tesla is thinking to ship some powerwall batteries this summer in US before they expand international in 2016.

The goal of the company is to reduce energy demand from fossil fuels while creating regional networks of home batteries that can be controlled like a power plant. So it can give utilities another way to ensure that they can provide power at times of peak demand.

SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 rocket, but landing fails

April 15, 2015 By Stephanie James Leave a Comment

US space transport services firm SpaceX on Tuesday blasted off a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) along with Dragon, an uncrewed cargo spacecraft, on a flight at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Even though this easy part was successfully launched, the private space exploration company made an unsuccessful bid while landing a rocket staged on a floating barge.

“Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival,” SpaceX founder and billionaire CEO Elon Musk tweeted soon after the launch.

Later on Musk clarified that the company’s rocket landed, but tipped over.

“Looks like Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing pic.twitter.com/eJWzN6KSJa,” Musk tweeted further.

The space company made rigorous effort to land a Falcon 9 rocket on the drone ship in January this year, but the rocket skidded at an angle and explosion occurred. SpaceX has said it will keep trying and, after it masters landing at sea, hopes to someday land rockets on the ground.

Falcon 9 first stage landing burn and touchdown on Just Read the Instructions https://t.co/4Te0BfT2Qn

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 15, 2015

The Dragon will be docking with the International Space Station a couple of days following launch for the delivery of over 4,300 pounds of supplies, including ISSpresso and research equipment and other related items.

ISSpresso, an espresso maker, is meant at providing coffee and tea for the astronauts at the ISS.

The launch of Tuesday was the second attempt by the space company for this mission. The rocket launch that was planned for Monday was scrubbed last month due to bad weather conditions. This is the sixth mission of SpaceX to ISS.

Tesla Motors to introduce all-wheel drive to its Model S sedans

April 8, 2015 By Stephanie James Leave a Comment

Electric car making company Tesla Motors is leaving no stone unturned to successfully make a mark among the mainstream luxury car buyers. In this regard, the company has introduced all-wheel-drive as well as more power and range to the base version of its only model.

The newly introduced features at the Model S lineup’s low end will come along with nearly a seven percent increase in price, to USD 75,000 for those buying the cars. The base price of the lease will increase to USD 838 a month from USD 796 for 12,000 miles a year.

Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors will be stopping the sale of the old base Model S called the 60 on Wednesday. The USD 70,000 rear-drive car having a 380-horsepower motor could go 208 miles with a single charge and from zero to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds.

The 70D, a new all-wheel-drive model, can go a government-certified 240 miles per charge. It possesses 514 horsepower and has the capability to go from zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. The buyers also get free accessibility to Tesla’s vast network of quick-charging stations and several other standard features.

Elon Musk, chief executive official, says with a USD 7,500 federal tax credit that takes the price to USD 67,500, along with the tax credits in some states, the new version will give tough competition price-wise to the Mercedes E-Class or the midsize 5-Series of BMW, when the customer add in savings from denying buying gasoline. BMW’s 5 Series price begins nearly USD 50,000 and the E-Class is priced at roughly USD 52,000.

Tesla needs approximately USD 6,500 due at signing for its lease of 12,000-mile. On the other hand, BMW needs just more than USD 4,300.

According to Musk, there are no plans of spending more on marketing in order to match rival companies BMW and Mercedes even if he’s trying to woo more mass-market customers.

Musk said that the firm will be continuing hosting events for customers but “there are no plans yet to do advertising or endorsements or any discounting.”

Tesla Motors shares increased USD 3.02, or 1.5 percent, to USD 206.27 during the morning trading. The company’s shares have fallen nearly four percent over the past year.

Tesla Motors delivers record 10,030 cars in Q1 this year

April 3, 2015 By Stephanie James Leave a Comment

Auto maker Tesla Motors Inc has announced that the company has delivered a record 10,030 cars during the first quarter.

According to the car maker, this is a 55 percent rise as compared to the number of deliveries made in the first quarter of 2014.

The number of new car deliveries will be published by the company within three days of quarter end. According to the company, the three days time has been decided as several inaccurate sources of information are often used by others in publishing the final figures of vehicle deliveries.

Tesla is expecting to deliver nearly 55,000 cars worldwide this year. This is an increase of approximately 74 percent.

The stock of the company has been battered in 2015 by the investors who are concerned about its failure to hit the sales targets in China as well as the departures in 2014 of two top Tesla executives in that nation.

Elon Musk, chief executive official of electric car maker Tesla Motors, took to the micro-blogging site Twitter earlier in the week to post several optimistic statements about the sagging operations of the company in China.

Up to close of USD 191 on Thursday, the stock had tumbled 14.1 percent in 2015.

Tesla Motors is going to offer upgrades on its vehicle models, such as hands-free steering on its Model S sedan in three months, roughly a year ahead of other automobile companies.

Tesla self-driving cars: Elon Musk promises autopilot sedans this summer

March 21, 2015 By Kyle Mills

The self-driving cars have become a largely talked topic in the auto industry. Almost every driver commuting at long distances want to have a special autonomous driving facility in their cars.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has taken a major step in this direction when on Thursday he announced introduction of autonomous technology in the vehicles by this summer.

According to the company, the autonomous technology would allow the drivers to hand over the control of their cars on “major roads” such as highways.

The maker of high-end electric cars said that there will be a software update and not a mechanical change after which Tesla’s Model S sedans will be able to start driving themselves in a hands-free mode, for at least part of the time. The company terms the autonomous driving mode as autopilot.

In the meanwhile, some industry experts have raised serious objections about the legalities of such autonomous driving technology. Moreover, they are also skeptical that Model S owners attempting the autopilot mode would not run afoul of the current regulations.

Addressing the concerns, Tesla spokesperson Alexis Georgeson said, “There was nothing in our autopilot system that is in conflict with current regulations.”

According to Georgeson, the system has been designed in such a way that it can be used by an alert driver.

“We don’t intend to get rid of the pilot. This is about releasing the driver from the tiring tasks so that they can focus more and provide better input,” she said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has earlier said that “any autonomous vehicle would need to meet applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. The agency will have the appropriate policies and regulations in place to ensure the safety of these types of vehicles.”

Sales ban on Tesla lifted in New Jersey

March 19, 2015 By Doyle Buehler

New Jersey lifted the ban on Electronic vehicles (EV) and the company Tesla motors is getting ready to grab the opportunity. A new legislation bill was signed by the New Jersey governor Chris Christie giving green signal to zero-emissions cars in state.

The legislation also require companies to maintain service facility and also to inform the state about the sales figures.

It was in April 2014 when New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission passed the regulation banning Tesla and other EV. Tesla had adopted a new business model where they were selling the cars directly to customers without any franchises. This has led to a ban on the sale of cars not only in New Jersey but other states also for contravening the auto-sales regulations.

Tesla and Palo alto protested the regulation last year. They said most of the revenue comes from gasoline powered cars and very little revenue form the electric cars this made them to sell the cars directly to customer without the dealership in middle.

Governor Christie stated “I said last year that if the Legislature changed the law, I would sign new legislation put on my desk and that is exactly what I’m doing today.”

“We’re pleased that manufacturers like Tesla will now have the opportunity to establish direct sales operations for consumers in a manner lawfully in New Jersey.”

This new legislation would allow Tesla to market their vehicles across New Jersey. During the ban interest buyers had to get the Tesla all the way from New York or Pennsylvania where it was permitted to sell.

Elon musk, CEO Tesla motors thanked the supporters in New Jersey.

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