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Musk’s Top Concern Now Is SpaceX Getting to Mars Before He Dies

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-09/elon-musk-worries-spacex-won-t-get-to-mars-before-he-dies

While others worry about economies slipping into recession and markets melting down, Elon Musk’s biggest concern is that his rocket company SpaceX may fail to accomplish its foundational mission -- getting to Mars -- before he dies.

“If we don’t improve our pace of progress, I’m definitely going to be dead before we go to Mars,” Musk said Monday at the Satellite 2020 conference in Washington. “If it’s taken us 18 years just to get ready to do the first people to orbit, we’ve got to improve our rate of innovation or, based on past trends, I am definitely going to be dead before Mars.”

In November 2018, he told Recode that closely held SpaceX was aiming to get to Mars in 2024, and told Axios that there was a 70% chance that he personally would go.

Confidential Tesla and SpaceX documents were leaked online after one of their suppliers was hacked

Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-spacex-documents-leaked-online-after-supplier-hacked-2020-3

Tesla and SpaceX documents have been leaked online after one of their suppliers was hacked, TechCrunch reported.

A representative for the supplier, Visser Precision, confirmed to Business Insider that company data had been accessed or stolen in a "criminal cybersecurity incident." The representative said "business is operating normally" while the company investigates the incident.

Security experts told TechCrunch that the DoppelPaymer ransomware was responsible for the hack. DoppelPaymer demands a ransom in exchange for declining to publish the stolen files, and so far, nondisclosure agreements involving Tesla and SpaceX have been posted on a public website, according to TechCrunch's report.

SpaceX moving on to Starship SN2 prototype after SN1 bites the dust in test

Link: https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-sn1-prototype-test-failure-sn2-next.html

Elon Musk seems to be taking SpaceX's recent Starship setback in stride.

On Friday night (Feb. 28), the second full-size prototype of SpaceX's Mars-colonizing Starship vehicle, a variant known as the SN1, was destroyed during a pressurization test.

Musk didn't immediately tweet about Friday night's incident. But the billionaire entrepreneur posted a few items early Monday morning (March 2) that suggest he's not dwelling on the SN1's demise.

"So … how was your night?" read one tweet, which accompanied a video of the prototype's death. This was followed by "It's fine, we’ll just buff it out," and then another tweet that said, "Where’s Flextape when you need it!?"

And in yet another Monday-morning tweet, Musk said that SpaceX has shifted its focus to the next prototype iteration, the SN2, which is already under construction.

"We're stripping SN2 to bare minimum to test the thrust puck to dome weld under pressure, first with water, then at cryo. Hopefully ready to test in a few days," Musk wrote.

DAREDEVIL 'MAD' MIKE HUGHES FAILED TO DEPLOY BACKUP CHUTES... May Have Blacked Out

Link: https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/02/daredevil-mad-mike-hughes-fatal-rocket-crash-backup-parachutes/

"Mad" Mike Hughes may have blacked out and that's why he failed to deploy backup parachutes moments before his fatal rocket crash ... TMZ has learned.

Mike's rep, Darren Shuster, tells TMZ ... the daredevil's launch got off to a terrible start when his parachute got snagged by a ladder next to the rocket. Mike needed a ladder because he didn't wanna be lifted into it, as they had initially prepared.

When the parachute got snagged, Mike's ground control crew radioed Mike and ordered him to deploy his backup parachute. There were 2 backups on the rocket. Problem was ... the ground crew never got a response from Mike.

Shuster tells us Mike's crew believes he may have blacked out with the rocket taking off at around...