đStarship could solve what Musk calls an "insanely hard problem"
Musk Reads #259
SpaceX prepares to launch; Tesla stays quiet for now; and Musk comes to an agreement with Texas. Itâs the free edition of Musk Reads #259 â subscribe now to receive two more emails later this week!Â
Last week, Musk Reads+ subscribers heard from an analyst who explained what Cybertruck delays mean for the future. This week, readers will hear about the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E Team, how the sport pioneers new EV technology, and how the team built a race car ice sculpture to highlight climate change.
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Musk quote of the week
âIt will be exciting to see what new cultures humanity creates on other heavenly bodies!â â Elon Musk said to a fan who noticed that the completed, orbit-bound Starship is the same size as Earthâs Statue of Liberty.Â
SpaceX: Starship fully stacked
Elon Muskâs Twitter account, his press release area of choice, has been flooded with the news: Starship is stacked for its first orbital flight.Â
Musk has been documenting the last few construction details for the past week, letting followers in on crucial final moments like moving the rocketâs Super Heavy Booster to the orbital launch mount and when more heat shield tiles were on their way on August 5.
If things continue to go well, this Starship will be heading for Hawaii after firing off from Texas during its as-of-yet unannounced first orbital launch. Read more on Inverse.
Elon Musk has also expressed interest in developing Starship so that it can carry 150 tons of orbital payload with âfull reusability,â solving what Elon Musk calls an âinsanely hard problem.â

â[A rocket] must be rapidly and completely reusable,â Musk tweeted August 6. âThis is the only way to make life multiplanetary.â
In minor SpaceX news âŠ
Starlink is creating a more rugged satellite.
SpaceX bought a data satellite startup, Swarm Technologies.Â
Tesla: A.I. day on the horizon
Tesla will host its first A.I. Day on August 19, another addition to the âdaysâ Tesla holds to explain and showcase new technology, like Autonomy Day in 2019 or Battery Day in 2020.Â
According to The Street, Tesla began sending out invitations to the âinvite-onlyâ event last week, along with a vague but lengthy description of what attendees can expect. Some highlights of what A.I. Day will entail include a keynote speech delivered by Musk, demonstrations in the latest (presumably A.I.) technology given by Tesla engineers, and the pledge that attendees will get an âinside look at whatâs next for A.I. at Tesla beyond our vehicle fleet.âÂ
This last part suggests Tesla is now looking beyond the failed robotaxi fantasies of yore, and, as The Street notes, it might have something to do with now-deleted tweets from UCLA engineering professor Dennis Hong alluding to Teslaâs âsecret projectâ.
Hong also tweeted a photo of a multilayered chip along with the date and time of A.I. Day but gave little description to what the chip was or how Tesla was using it beyond the cryptic âsilence can never be misquoted.â So far, Tesla has made no public suggestion about what A.I. technology it is developing beyond their vehiclesâ Autopilot.
Although much of what the invitation describes has to do with sharing Teslaâs behind-the-scenes progress, Musk said in July that the primary goal of A.I. Day was to recruit new hires. This is also different from the purpose of 2019âs Autonomy Day, which was primarily dedicated to sharing Teslaâs robotaxi goals with investors. Notably, Teslaâs Autopilot page also has an open application section for people who have done âexceptional work [...] in software, hardware, or A.I.â Â
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In other Musk news âŠ
Musk's SpaceX wins round in Texas land dispute (The Street)
T-minus the internet
A ranked list of everything Musk-related and online, handpicked weekly with bionic precision. Â
10. A YouTuber turned herself into Jeff Bezos. (With makeup, itâs chillingly accurate.)
9. The real Jeff Bezos is still mad at NASA. Blue Origin posted an infographic describing NASAâs lunar contract with SpaceX as a âflawed acquisition.â Read more.Â
8. MIT has a clean energy startup simulator if you ever wanted to pretend to do that. Read more.
7. Tesla was left out of the White Houseâs electric vehicle event and no one knows why. Except for Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who suggested Teslaâs lack of unionized employees was a problem.Unions are a collective good â who knew!Â
6. Muskâs companies may not have unions, but they do have branded bars. And theyâre hiring. Read more.
5. Netflix will document SpaceXâs first all-civilian mission, the Inspiration4 mission. This September, weâre streaming space.Â
4. âAstronaut managerâ Christina Korp wrote a Twitter thread about her and Buzz Aldrinâs unsuccessful trip to SpaceX nine years ago. Aldrin was hoping Musk would be interested in the Cycler, the Martian spacecraft he created. He wasnât, but he did deliver on building the âbig fucking rocketâ he promised. Read more.
3. Your Mars citizenship is pending. NASA is looking for four âmotivatedâ U.S. residents to participate in the first of a three-year-long simulated Mars mission. Read more.Â
2. A small win for the Tesla employees who have been speaking up about on-site discrimination for years. Former employee Melvin Berry was awarded $1 million after Tesla âfailed to stop his supervisors from calling him the âN-word.ââ Read more.
1. And a piece of Musk history: In light of all the Elon Musk biography news, letâs revisit a short profile that Fast Company published in 2005, only three years after the founding of SpaceX and just one year after Musk joined Tesla as an investor. Some essential things to Musk at the time included multi-planetary living, making rockets affordable, and the idea that if âthings are not failing, you are not innovating enough.â Fame hasn't changed him!
The ultra-fine print
This has been Musk Reads #259, the weekly rundown of essential reading about futurist and entrepreneur Elon Musk. Iâm Ashley Bardhan, assistant to Musk Reads. Iâll be taking over the Monday newsletter for the summer.Â
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