<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rolls-Royce unveiled a concept model for a miniature nuclear reactor that could  go to the moon. </li><li>The reactor could one day power a colony of lunar astronauts. </li></ul><p>Rolls-Royce has revealed a concept model of a micronuclear reactor it plans to bring to the moon.</p><p>The project, backed by a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-space-agency-backs-rolls-royce-nuclear-power-for-moon-exploration">£2.9 million contract</a> ($3.6 million) from the UK Space Agency, aims to provide a reliable power source for astronauts establishing colonies on the moon in the near future.</p><p>"Our Space Micro-Reactor Concept Model allows us to demonstrate how this technology will bring immense benefits for both space and Earth," Abi Clayton, director of future programs at Rolls-Royce, said in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rolls-royce.com/media/our-stories/discover/2023/rr-unveils-space-micro-reactor-model-for-moon-exploration.aspx">a statement</a> Friday.</p><p>The model was unveiled at the UK Space Conference in Belfast, UK late November.</p><p>Rolls-Royce believes it will take another six years for the reactor to be ready to be sent to the moon.</p><p>"Rolls-Royce plan to have a reactor ready to send to the moon by the early 2030s," the firm said in the statement.</p><p>Micronuclear reactors could bring much-needed energy sources for long-term settlement on the moon. These scaled power stations are much smaller than the nuclear reactors that generate electricity for the power grids, generating <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-20-380sp.pdf">less than 50 megawatts</a> of electric power (compared to about 1 gigawatt per full-scale plant).</p><p>Though designs vary,  microreactors follow much the same principles as their full-scale counterparts: nuclear fuel decay releases radiation which creates heat that powers a turbine or pistons or other heat-generated systems to produce electricity.</p><p>Many space agencies aim to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">return to the moon</a> within the next decade — with NASA planning to put boots on the moon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.space.com/news/live/nasa-artemis-2-moon-mission-updates">as early as 2024</a>.</p><p>The longer-term plan is to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">establish lunar colonies</a> that could allow astronauts to live on the moon for longer.</p><p>Colonizing the moon means <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-gps-on-moon-nasa-esa-artemis-plans-to-fix-2023-1">bringing the infrastructure</a> for day-to-day life. That includes a reliable source of energy for activities like drilling, heating, refrigeration, charging rovers, and more, Business Insider<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-plans-mini-nuclear-reactors-moon-power-lunar-colony-2022-7"> previously reported.</a></p><p>While it's possible to harness solar energy on the moon, it can be unreliable. Dust can occlude the solar panels, for instance, and it can't be used to power up systems in shady areas. A small nuclear reactor, on the other hand, can produce reliable, constant energy.</p><div type="image" title="An artist's illustration shows a micro nuclear reactor, branded with the Rolls-Royce logo, on the moon, with the Earth shown in the background" height="640" width="960" msid="105815205" hostid="261" sizebytes="65644"></div><p>Rolls Royce isn't the only company looking to develop a miniature reactor for a space agency.</p><p>In 2022, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-announces-artemis-concept-awards-for-nuclear-power-on-moon/#:~:text=NASA%20and%20the%20U.S.%20Department,a%20demonstration%20on%20the%20Moon.">NASA awarded contracts</a> to Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy) to develop preliminary designs for a 40-kilowatt class nuclear fission power system that could last at least 10 years in the lunar environment. Each contract was valued at about $5 million.</p><p>NASA previously developed its own concept nuclear reactor called Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (or KRUSTy).</p><p>Tested in 2018, KRUSTy was able to run for several hours, producing <a target="_blank" href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180007389/downloads/20180007389.pdf">upwards of 4 kW at a temperature of 800 °C</a>, proving a small-scale nuclear fission power system could produce enough energy to sustain a small colony on the moon.</p><p>The concept was designed to be safely flown on a rocket to the moon and abandoned once it ran out of fuel, which meant there was no need for a disposal plan for the waste — it could stay in the reactor and become steadily less radioactive.</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fugONNLb9JE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" title="Kilopower: A Gateway to Abundant Power for Exploration"></iframe><p>After KRUSTy's concept proved the model could function, NASA reached out to private firms to develop their own designs in house.</p><p>Like many technologies being developed to improve infrastructure around the moon, the ultimate end goal is much further afield.</p><p>"This could be also a stepping stone to develop the technology and the experience that we could then take to Mars," Todd Tofil, the Fission Surface Power project manager at NASA's Glenn Research Center, told BI in 2022.</p>

Rolls-Royce unveils a concept nuclear reactor that could one day power a colony on the moon

<ul><li>The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) just named a rock on Mars after the English rock band, <keyword id="156725" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Rolling-Stones">The Rolling Stones</keyword>. </li><li>'The Rolling Stones Rock' rolled further than any rock that has been moved by a NASA spacecraft landing on another planet.</li><li>The connection between NASA and The Rolling Stones goes back to 1964 when the band launched its first album.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-rolling-stones-just-won-their-3rd-grammy-and-it-was-for-an-album-thats-one-of-their-best/articleshow/62701058.cms">Rolling Stones</a> already has a massive fan following on Earth and now they’re ready to capture an inter-galactic audience from Mars.<br /><br />When the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) landed the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasas-insight-robot-is-about-to-land-on-mars-heres-how-it-might-survive-7-minutes-of-terror-and-make-incredible-discoveries-about-the-red-planet-and-earth-too-/articleshow/66742919.cms">Mars InSight Rover</a> on the Red Planet, a lot of stones and dust went flying.<br /><br /><br /><br />But, one stone rolled further than the rest — furthest that NASA has seen any rock roll while landing their spacecraft on another planet.<br /><br />That golf ball sized rock has now been dubbed the ‘Rolling Stones Rock’ after the legendary rock band that includes Mick Jagger, Keither Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood.<br /><br />
  
  
  
  <div type="Youtube" id="1Az-S4MdifU" title="NASA Names “Rolling Stones Rock” on Mars" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1Az-S4MdifU/mqdefault.jpg"></div>









<br /><strong>Back to 1964<br /></strong><br />The connection in history between NASA and the Rolling Stones goes back to 1964. <br /><br />Around the time that Rolling Stones released their first album, NASA conducted its first successful fly-by of Mars on the Mariner 4.<br /><br />"Cross pollinating science and a legendary rock band is always a good thing," said actor Robert Downey Junior, known for playing Iron Man in the Avengers series, when he made the announcement on 22 August.<br /><br />Most objects in space have official names and those names can only come from the International Astronomical Union. <br /><br />But every space organisation indulges in giving unofficial nicknames to rocks and other space objects. <br /><br />And, the reasoning is simple — nicknames make for easier reference rather than more technical names. Not to mention that they’re just more fun.<br /><br />"This is definitely a milestone in our long and eventful history. A huge thank you to everyone at NASA for making it happen," said Mick Jagger during the ‘Stones No Filter’ concert in California.<br /><br /><strong>See also:</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/theres-a-pac-man-shaped-crater-on-mars/articleshow/64256724.cms">There’s a Pac-Man-shaped crater on Mars</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nasa-spots-marsquake-on-insight-lander-mission/articleshow/69018433.cms">NASA detects a quake on Mars for the very first time — using sound</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/5-apollo-11-technologies-still-in-use-today-by-nasa/articleshow/70248633.cms">Five Apollo 11 technologies that NASA still uses 50 years after the first man landed on the moon</a><br />

The Rolling Stones literally rolled on Mars as NASA's InSight Rover landed

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> is developing plans to put nuclear reactors on the <keyword id="11900364" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="moon" source="Orion">moon</keyword>. </li><li>The tiny reactors would provide energy for future human settlements. </li></ul><p>NASA has asked companies to design plans for reactors that could be set up on the moon, giving a glimpse of a future where a permanent lunar base is powered by nuclear fuel.</p><p>NASA <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-pushes-astronaut-moon-landing-to-2025-racing-china-2021-11">aims to send humans back to the moon by 2025</a> to lay the groundwork for human settlements on the moon. NASA then wants to use those as a launchpad to <keyword id="12055530" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mars" source="Orion">Mars</keyword>. </p><p>Colonizing the moon means bringing the infrastructure for day-to-day life. That includes a reliable source of energy for activities like activities like drilling, heating, refrigeration, charging rovers, and more. <keyword id="12198776" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nuclear-power" source="Orion">Nuclear power</keyword> is the best option, NASA said. </p><p>"This could be also a stepping stone to develop the technology and the experience that we could then take to Mars," said Todd Tofil, the Fission Surface Power project manager at NASA's Glenn Research Center.</p><div type="image" title="A schematic shows the elements of a KRUSTY prototype." height="942" width="1885" msid="92755023" hostid="261" sizebytes="39264"></div><h2>KRUSTY the nuclear reactor</h2><p>The biggest challenge to bringing nuclear power to the moon is cramming a reactor onto a rocket, Tofil said. </p><p>NASA has been working on developing a rocket-sized reactor for the past 15 years and they've come up with a novel design called the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/demonstration-proves-nuclear-fission-system-can-provide-space-exploration-power">KRUSTY</a>). </p><p>The reactor, shown in the video below, would generate about 1 to 10 kilowatts of power continuously for at least 10 years. That's much smaller than the nuclear power plants on Earth, but it is enough to power several average households. </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fugONNLb9JE" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>It is based on a small core of enriched uranium about the size of a roll of paper towel encased in a heavy metal sheath.</p><p>Unlike most nuclear reactors on Earth, which use steam-powered engines, this design relies on a stirling engine, which uses pistons to convert the heat into energy. This is a much more efficient design for the size. </p><div type="image" title="A picture shows NASA's prototype KRUSTY nuclear reactor for the Moon." height="1499" width="1999" msid="92755024" hostid="261" sizebytes="125536"></div><p>To cool down the system, the excess heat will be dissipated through large radiators. In the prototype design above, this is the big circular disk above the engine.</p><h2>A safe process</h2><p>The first question is whether blasting nuclear fuel from Earth to the moon is safe. It is.</p><p>Before the nuclear fuel is put into the reactor, it is only very mildly radioactive. So even in the unlikely event a rocket were to blow up in the Earth's atmosphere while carrying, it would not be a significant radioactive threat.</p><p>Each reactor only uses a very small amount of fuel, so each one gives off relatively little radiation. The core is also <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/kilopower-media-event-charts-final-011618.pdf">safely encased in metal</a> to absorb radiation and stop the material leaking.</p><p>The reactor also has systems the shut it down if any issues are detected with cooling.<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/kilopower-media-event-charts-final-011618.pdf"></a></p><p>The reactors are essentially disposal — unlike Earth reactors, the plan is to abandon them after the fuel runs out. This means there is no need for a disposal plan for the waste — it can stay in the reactor and become steadily less radioactive.</p><p>"Once it's shut down, for instance if the natural usefulness of its life comes to an end, then over a period of weeks that radiation level would drop to fairly low levels," Tofil said.</p><div type="image" title="An conceptual illustration shows a KRUSTY nuclear power reactor on Mars." height="1000" width="2000" msid="92755025" hostid="261" sizebytes="39688"></div><h2>From the moon to Mars </h2><p>NASA has entered the last stages of development for this project. The KRUSTY design was tested successfully on Earth in 2018 and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-artemis-concept-awards-for-nuclear-power-on-moon/#:~:text=NASA%20and%20the%20U.S.%20Department,a%20demonstration%20on%20the%20Moon.">last month the agency awarded contracts for industry partners to take the design from prototype to product.</a></p><p>The next steps are making sure the reactor can resist the pressures of space flight, including the intense vibration that comes with it. </p><p>NASA has bigger plans than Mars for the reactors. Should they work, they could be taken to Mars as well.</p><p>They could also help us get there, as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-artemis-concept-awards-for-nuclear-power-on-moon">the information gathered on the moon could help develop concepts for deep-space exploration powered by nuclear energy</a>.</p><p>"We're trying to encourage industry to design the lunar unit so that with minimal changes it could be used on Mars," said Tofil.</p>

NASA has a plan for mini nuclear reactors on the moon which could one day power a lunar colony

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perseverance-rover-successfully-collects-first-sample-of-mars-rock-2021-9">NASA's Perseverance rover</a> has collected its first sample of <keyword id="12055530" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mars" source="Orion">Mars</keyword> rock in its search for ancient <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-rover-landing-jezero-crater-search-for-alien-life-2021-2">alien microbes</a>.</li><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> plans to bring <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-perseverance-rover-best-photos-100-days-on-mars-2021-6">Perseverance's</a> samples to Earth via a "mind-bendingly complicated" mission.</li><li>But NASA still needs about a decade, $4 billion, and new technology to bring the Mars rocks to Earth.</li></ul><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perseverance-rover-successfully-collects-first-sample-of-mars-rock-2021-9">finger-width chunk of rock</a> NASA's Perseverance rover drilled last week is the fruit of a <a href="https://www.planetary.org/articles/cost-of-perseverance-in-context">$2.4 billion labor</a>.</p><p>The rock is a sample core from a boulder on Mars - the first of many that NASA hopes Perseverance will gather and store in pursuit of a fundamental question: Did Mars ever host microbial life?</p><p>The rover's current location, a 28-mile-wide basin called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-rover-landing-jezero-crater-search-for-alien-life-2021-2">Jezero Crater, is the ideal place to hunt for an answer</a>. More than 3.5 billion years ago, a river spilled over the edge of the crater and filled it with water. That river very likely carried clay and minerals into the lake, which then fell to the bottom - possibly trapping microbes and enshrining them as fossils in sedimentary stone.</p><p>The engineers and scientists who designed and built Perseverance waited nearly 10 years for the rover to reach Jezero Crater and collect its first sample. But they'll have to wait at least another decade to get their hands on that rock.</p><div type="image" title="perseverance rover on mars takes selfie with ingenuity helicopter" height="1939" width="2585" msid="86051445" hostid="261"></div><p>That's because NASA has to send a follow-up mission to Mars to retrieve Perseverance's samples and bring them to Earth. The agency hasn't yet secured the budget for that project, which could cost $4 billion, nor has it developed the necessary technology.</p><p>"Collecting those samples is a first step of one of the most difficult missions ever undertaken," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator, said in a February briefing, before Perseverance landed on Mars.</p><p>Although this "<keyword id="12012816" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mars-sample-return" source="Orion">Mars Sample Return</keyword>" mission is still in the proposal phase, NASA estimates it could launch as early as 2026. On that timeline, Perseverance's samples would land on Earth in 2031.</p><p>In the meantime, the agency's most advanced rover yet will keep roaming Jezero Crater, collecting samples that don't yet have a way off the red planet.</p><h2>NASA's plan is 'mind-bendingly complicated'</h2><div type="image" title="illustration of mini rocket launching from mars lander" height="1644" width="2193" msid="86051446" hostid="261"></div><p>To get Perseverance's samples to Earth, NASA must launch two rockets carrying two different spacecraft: a lander and an orbiter.</p><p>The lander would be the largest ever sent to Mars, and it would have to touch down in Jezero Crater within 100 yards of the spot where Perseverance stashes its samples. The lander would then roll out a ramp to deploy a "fetch rover" that would gather the tubes and load them into a container aboard a small rocket attached to the lander.</p><p>Then NASA would attempt a major first: The rocket must launch the sample container into Mars's orbit. Nobody has ever launched anything from the surface of Mars.</p><p>Once in orbit, the rocket would release the sample container, putting it on a path that would line up with the orbiter (which would be be the largest spacecraft NASA has ever sent to Mars). Then the orbiter must grab the sample container.</p><div type="image" title="illustration of mars sample return mission shows mini rocket releasing small container into mars orbit" height="1080" width="1440" msid="86051447" hostid="261"></div><p>With the samples in tow, the orbiter would then journey back to Earth and ultimately drop a small vessel containing the samples. That vessel has to protect the Mars rocks as they plummet through the atmosphere, then deploy parachutes to land them safely on the ground.</p><p>The mission will be a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), which is responsible for developing the orbiter and fetch rover.</p><p>"It's really the most extraordinary, mind-bendingly complicated, and will-be-history-making exploration campaign," David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at the ESA, said in the February briefing.</p><div type="image" title="illustration mars orbiting spacecraft capturing small sample container" height="2500" width="2261" msid="86051448" hostid="261"></div><p>Last year, though, an independent review board determined that NASA's timeline and budget for the Mars sample return are too optimistic, <a href="https://spacenews.com/the-multi-decade-challenge-of-mars-sample-return/">SpaceNews reported</a>. The board proposed that NASA allot an extra two years - a 2028 launch and 2033 arrival on Earth - and bump the budget up about $1 billion. NASA had estimated a cost of $2.9 to $3.3 billion, according to SpaceNews, but the review board thought $3.8 to $4.4 billion would be more realistic.</p><p>None of those funds have been approved yet, since the mission is still in its proposal phase, and since Congress must approve a new budget for NASA each year.</p><h2>NASA has already invested heavily in the sample-return project</h2><div type="image" title="Perseverance Rover" height="1650" width="2200" msid="86051449" hostid="261"></div><p>It took a lot of time, labor, and money to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mars-landing-nasa-perseverance-rover-touches-down-in-jezero-crater-2021-2">get Perseverance to Jezero Crater</a>.</p><p>After NASA built and launched the rover, it spent seven months traveling to Mars. Then the robot spent another six months getting set up and watching <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-chart-nasa-mars-ingenuity-helicopter-flight-path-distance-record-2021-7">its helicopter sibling</a> fly.</p><p>When it was finally ready to start collecting samples last month, Perseverance tried to drill a rock core, but it crumbled to dust. So it drove to another location over a few weeks, waited for scientists to choose a rock, then drilled a new sample. It sealed the tube containing that core on Monday.</p><div type="image" title="perseverance rover robotic arm holds up golden tube for coring samples against mars plains background" height="1199" width="1599" msid="86051450" hostid="261"></div><p>Perseverance is carrying 42 more tubes. NASA expects to fill many of them over the next year and a half as the rover explores the crater's ancient river delta. Then, if the robot is still in working order, it might venture up the crater rim and beyond, filling more tubes along the way.</p><p>Once Perseverance is spent, it will cache a container full of sample tubes in one of several safe landing spots NASA has identified.</p><p>Then those samples will lie in wait until NASA is ready to retrieve them.</p>

NASA has collected its first Mars sample. But it needs $4 billion, 10 years, and new technology to bring the rock to Earth.

<ul><li><strong>Today (August 28), Mars and Earth will be on the opposite sides of the sun.</strong></li><li><strong>The phenomenon is called a '<keyword id="8032630" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-conjunction">solar conjunction</keyword>' which occurs every two years.</strong></li><li><strong>NASA has ordered a 'command moratorium' from Monday (August 26) until September 7.</strong></li></ul><br />Today (August 28), Mars and Earth will be on the opposite sides of the sun, which means the Red Planet won't visible from the Earth for sometime.  The phenomenon is called a 'solar conjunction', which occurs every two years, and that means vacation time for some engineers working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).<br /><br />As NASA describes it, "like dancers on either side of a huge bonfire, the two planets are temporarily invisible to each other." <br /><br />NASA has ordered a 'command moratorium'  from Monday (August 26) until September 7, which would mean engineers won't communicate with the roving vehicle scanning Mars for its potential to support life. There is also a pause on even the data relayed back from Mars to ensure that the sun's gases in between don't corrupt the radio signals.<br /><br />
	
  <div type="image" title="mgs1b" msid="70869222" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;NASA describes  a solar conjunction&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;, &amp;quot;like dancers on either side of a huge bonfire, the two planets are temporarily invisible to each other.&amp;quot; &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br /><br />"No one attempts to send new instructions to Mars during solar conjunction. It's impossible to predict what information might be lost due to interference from charged particles from the Sun, and that lost information could potentially endanger the spacecraft. Instead, prior to solar conjunction, engineers send two weeks' worth of instructions and wait," NASA explained adding that "many then consider it an opportune time to take a few, well-deserved vacation days."<br /><br />The Washington D.C.-based space agency will have to wait until they rule out the possibility of interference from the sun. "It’s that time again,’ <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2019/08/26/nasa-alert-mars-solar-conjunction-threatens-red-planet-robots-10634003/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">said Roy Gladden</a>, manager of the Mars Relay Network at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Our engineers have been preparing our spacecraft for conjunction for months."<br /><br />While data can be resent and repaired, corrupted commands aimed at Mars could have disastrous consequences for NASA’s Curiosity rover, according to Gladden. <br /><br />Just yesterday, in a breakthrough of sorts, <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1170782/alien-life-mars-water-space-news-nasa-curiosity-rover-Goldschmidt-Geochemistry-Conference" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">a new research said</a> that Mars was 'warm and wet enough' to have massive rainstorms and flooding billions of years ago, making it perfect to support life.<br /><br />SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/NASAs-next-Mars-rover-will-launch-in-2020-and-its-being-built-before-our-eyes-heres-what-the-robots-birth-has-looked-like/articleshow/70246505.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">NASA's next Mars rover will launch in 2020, and it's being built before our eyes - here's what the robot's birth has looked like</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-rolling-stones-literally-rolled-on-mars-as-the-mars-insight-landed/articleshow/70801961.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">The Rolling Stones literally rolled on Mars as NASA's InSight Rover landed</a><br /><br />

The Sun comes in between the Earth and Mars-- and that means vacation for some NASA engineers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Stephen Curry joked on a podcast in 2018 that the moon landing was fake.</li><li>Curry got a "stern" email from Former President Barack Obama saying that Curry's comments were irresponsible.</li></ul><p>Former US President Barack Obama had to teach Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry a lesson in influence.</p><p><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/stephen-curry-trump-durant-obama-politics-retire-1234589154/">According to Rolling Stone's Matt Sullivan,</a> Obama scolded Curry in 2018 for joking on a podcast that the moon-landing was fake.</p><p>In 2018, on the "Wingin It" podcast with fellow NBA players Vince Carter, Kent Bazemore and Andre Iguodala, Curry asked if humans had ever been to the moon. When the other players expressed doubt, Curry agreed, saying, "I don't think so, either."</p><p>The comments prompted criticism, with NASA even releasing a statement, offering Curry evidence to prove humans had been to the moon.</p><p>Curry told Sullivan that he received a "stern" and "direct" email from Obama, admonishing the star point guard for being reckless with his platform. Obama said that man had, in fact, been to the moon and that Curry needed to do something to remedy the situation. </p><p>Curry ultimately released a statement <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-curry-nasa-moon-landing-comments-joke-2018-12">saying he was joking</a>. He also held a 15-minute, informational live session on Instagram with an astronaut. And Curry had custom-made, space-themed Under Armour sneakers, which he later auctioned off to support STEM programs in the Bay Area. They sold for over $58,000.</p><div type="image" title="President Barack Obama turns back and addresses Stephen Curry while Curry smiles at a White House event in 2016." height="1380" width="1841" msid="94159324" hostid="261" sizebytes="122950"></div><p>Curry and Obama are close friends, so Curry took no offense to the seriousness of Obama's message.</p><p>According to Sullivan, Obama has even made jokes about top-secret material that presidents are privy to: While golfing, Obama joked to Curry, "You won't believe what the aliens look like."</p>

Obama reportedly scolded Stephen Curry when the Warriors star joked that the moon landing was fake

'Our toehold in space is at extreme risk': Russia's rocket failure has thrown astronaut access to the International Space Station into limbo

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c06e1e1499ade720a113717-2000/2018-11-09t005051z1838414295rc18a626d410rtrmadp3tesla-chair.jpg" border="0" alt="elon musk tesla" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" data-mce-source="Reuters / Kyle Grillot" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters / Kyle Grillot</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk has waged a long-running battle against Tesla short sellers, who have bet against the company's stock for years.</li><li>In recent weeks, an interesting development has occurred in the Tesla short universe, and it could dictate how the company's stock trades in the future.</li></ul><p>Elon Musk's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-short-sellers-are-tesla-worst-enemy-one-expert-debunks-short-interest-misunderstanding-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long-running battle</a> with <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/tsla-stock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tesla</a> short sellers is the stuff of legend at this point.</p><p>The majority of his crusade has been waged on Twitter, where he's repeatedly taunted the futility of short sellers and decried their mere existence. In a Rolling Stone profile last year, he called them "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-calls-investors-who-bet-against-teslas-stocks-jerks-who-want-us-to-die-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jerks who want us to die</a>." He's even called their behavior flat-out <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1047998560782827520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal</a>.</p><p>But Tesla's short-seller landscape has undergone some big changes in the last few weeks, to the point that it's almost unrecognizable from the pessimistic wasteland that it once was.</p><p>As shown in the chart below, the number of Tesla shares borrowed has declined to a year-to-date low, around 22 million. It also shows that multiple measures of short interest - or bets against Tesla's stock - are also at 2018 lows.</p><p>In other words, it's never been easier to short Tesla - and that's largely because wagers against the company have dried up, at least relative to the stock's history.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c06e6a4cc0f47749d555db3-880/screen shot 2018-12-04 at 34142 pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2018 12 04 at 3.41.42 PM" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" data-mce-source="IHS Markit" data-link="https://ihsmarkit.com/index.html" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://ihsmarkit.com/index.html">IHS Markit</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"While the share price has bounced 39% off the YTD low, and is only 15% below the all-time-high observed in June 2017, bears can at least enjoy a lower cost of admission to the short trade, for the time being," analysts at IHS Markit said in a recent client note.</p><p>IHS Markit also points out that lenders are reporting 16 million shares - or $5.4 billion - available to borrow, both of which are post-initial public offering highs for Tesla.</p><p>But why the recent capitulation on behalf of the shorts? Tesla's blockbuster third-quarter earnings report may have something to do with it. The company <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-q3-earnings-revenue-model-3-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported a surprise profit</a> for the period, which sent its stock soaring 13% in a single day, and pushed it up 29% for the week. That type of drastic price action can be catastrophic for shorts.</p><p>"Given the Q3 earnings results, and the market reaction to them, it's no surprise that bears have reduced the position on the margin and that some investors have positioned themselves to benefit from further short covering and continued enthusiasm from the firm's investor base," analysts at IHS Markit said in a recent client note.</p><p>With all of that in mind, what's the significance of these developments, in terms of how Tesla's stock will now trade? The straightforward takeaway would seem to be that it's now free to keep rising, unencumbered by the shackles of short sellers. But it's not that simple.</p><p>The dormant potential for sudden shorting activity actually makes Tesla's stock more vulnerable to a sharp downturn. Shorts are historically cheap, and there's ample supply, so if things start to go south again for Tesla, skeptics will be ready to pounce.</p><p>It's essentially the inverse of what played out in May, when Tesla shares were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-trading-headed-for-major-shift-short-sellers-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibitively expensive</a>, which put shorts on autopilot and left the price action up to long holders.</p><p>But the prospect of betting against Tesla isn't quite as appealing as it once was. The company is profitable, and Musk's multiple missteps seem to be firmly in the rear view. For evidence of this waning skepticism, look no further than the cost to protect against a Tesla default. Shown by the green line in the chart below, it also is hovering near lows.</p><p>Ultimately, betting against Tesla is getting to be a riskier proposition. All of the statistics laid out above confirm that. The question investors must now ask themselves is whether it's best to scoop up Tesla short exposure at discount prices, or stay out of the fray entirely.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c06ec9ee60d4f73e428912f-899/screen shot 2018-12-04 at 40704 pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2018 12 04 at 4.07.04 PM" data-mce-source="IHS Markit" data-link="https://ihsmarkit.com/index.html" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://ihsmarkit.com/index.html">IHS Markit</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Tesla stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/TSLA-Quote"> <strong>here.</strong></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-insight-mars-850-million-dollar-drill-2018-11">NASA sent an $850 million hammer to Mars and it could uncover clues to an outstanding mystery in our solar system</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/0aF865m5-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Tesla's stock is in unprecedented territory that could completely overhaul how it's traded

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56bdfcb32e5265b7008b6d51-849-435/screen%20shot%202016-02-12%20at%2010.38.47%20am.png" alt="Ok Go zero G video" data-mce-source="ivan rebroff/YouTube screenshot" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs">ivan rebroff/YouTube screenshot</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>In case you missed it, Ok Go's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs">new music video</a> is literally out of this world. Ok, not literally, but it <em>was</em> shot&#xa0;in "zero gravity."<p>The pop band, known for its ambitious&#xa0;music videos, filmed its latest single&#xa0;"Upside Down and Inside Out" in a Russian&#xa0;<span>reduced-</span>gravity plane, which&#xa0;flies in a way&#xa0;that produces weightlessness, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-ok-go-defy-gravity-in-upside-down-inside-out-video-20160211#ixzz3ztpC8mYW%20">Rolling Stone reported</a>. To prepare for the feat, the band&#xa0;trained for three weeks at ROSCOSMOS, Russia's equivalent of NASA.</p><p>"What you are about to see is real.&#xa0;We shot this in zero gravity, in an actual plane, in the sky. There are no wires or green screen," the video's opening&#xa0;reads.&#xa0;</p><h2>What it's like to fly in 'reduced&#xa0;gravity'</h2><p>Several years ago, I had the chance to fly in&#xa0;a reduced&#xa0;gravity plane myself, as part of <a href="https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/">NASA's Microgravity University</a>, a program where teams of college students design experiments and&#xa0;fly them&#xa0;aboard a <a href="https://www.gozerog.com/">special&#xa0;airplane</a>&#xa0;nicknamed the "vomit comet."</p><p>And it's not called that for nothing - the human body&#xa0;doesn't always take kindly to floating around, and many people (not me, thankfully)&#xa0;get violently sick. Luckily, they give you anti-nausea drugs, and an air sickness bag, just in case.</p><p>The plane flies in arcs called parabolas, and since you and the plane are falling at the same rate,&#xa0;you don't feel like you're experiencing gravity. NASA refers to these flights as "reduced" or "micro" gravity, because&#xa0;you experience a mix of partial Gs at the top and bottom of each parabola known as dirty air.</p><p>On my flight, we did about 25 parabolas, and each one gives you only about 20 to 30 seconds of weightlessness. But Ok Go's&#xa0;3-minute video appears to be one continuous take, thanks to some&#xa0;clever editing.</p><p>We were technically doing the zero-G flights to test our experiment - a system for&#xa0;manipulating droplets of fluid in zero G using sound waves - but I managed to get in a bit of play time. Still,&#xa0;30 seconds in zero-G goes by surprisingly fast. Before you know it, the pilot is throttling back the plane to pull out of the dive, and you get the delightful experience of pulling two "Gs."</p><p>In Ok Go's video, the band members seem to effortlessly tumble about the plane, doing flips, aerial push ups, and other forms of synchronized acrobatics.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56bdf9e32e5265b6008b6d9e-849-436/okgo1.gif" alt="okgo1" data-mce-source="ivan rebroff/YouTube" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs">ivan rebroff/YouTube</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>Two flight attendants even appear to get in on the fun:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56bdfa0e2e52651a008b6dac-849-436/okgo2.gif" alt="okgo2" data-mce-source="ivan rebroff/YouTube" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs">ivan rebroff/YouTube</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>From there,&#xa0;things just get even more absurd:</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56bdfa332e5265bc008b6d8c-849-436/okgo3.gif" alt="okgo3" data-mce-source="ivan rebroff/YouTube" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUXafLUL5hs">ivan rebroff/YouTube</a></span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p><strong>You can watch the full video below:</strong></p><p><div><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CUXafLUL5hs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></p>

What it's really like to fly in 'zero gravity' like Ok Go did in their new music video

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54f8bfc86da811fe3990eaf5-1200-924/eso1509b.jpg" border="0" alt="mars water"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1509b/">ESO/M. Kornmesser/N. Risinger  (skysurvey.org)</a></span></p><p class="caption">This artist's impression shows how Mars may have looked about four billion years ago. The blue is liquid water. </p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Our solar system harbors over a dozen classic and dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, and tens of thousands of asteroids and comets. Yet, there is only one other place in our entire cosmic neighborhood where humans might make another world for ourselves that is anything like Earth.</p><p>"From a <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> point of view, it's Mars and Mars alone," Chris McKay, who is a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, told Business Insider.</p><p>"It's our one chance to make another habitable environment."</p><p>Deep down, McKay is a self-proclaimed terraformer - someone who is actively searching for scientifically plausible means of transforming other worlds, particularly Mars, to our liking through a process called terraforming.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Terraforming means altering the global environment to make it resemble the human-friendly conditions we enjoy here on Earth. Those conditions include a thick, breathable atmosphere, comfortable temperatures, and copious amounts of drinkable water. But b</span>efore we even begin considering ways to terraform Mars, there's one crucial measurement we must make first.</p><h2>Carbon dioxide holds the key</h2><p>We need to figure out how much carbon dioxi<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">de is l</span>ocked inside of the Martian ice and soil.</p><p>That's because this carbon dioxide will, under the right conditions, escape to the Martian atmosphere where it could warm the planet<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">, just as it does here on Earth. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">These conditions would require us to increase the temperature on Mars by a few degrees, first, which we could do by </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">introducing other types of stronger, more efficient greenhouse gases - such as chlorine flourates - into the Martian atmosphere, said McKay.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557afc7f6da8116e31818325-1200-1200/terraformedmarsgloberealistic.jpg" border="0" alt="TerraformedMarsGlobeRealistic"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TerraformedMarsGlobeRealistic.jpg">Daein Ballard on Wikimedia Commons</a></span></p><p class="caption">Artist's visions of a terraformed Mars.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>The big problem with carbon dioxide release, however, is that once we initiate the process, we have no way of stopping it until all of the carbon dioxide is working <span style="background-color: #ffffff;">its </span>magic in the atmosphere and warming the planet.</p><p>"It's like rolling a stone downhill," McKay told said. "We want to make sure it's going to land where we want it to before we start rolling it, because once we start it rolling, we can't really stop it."</p><p>Right now, McKay is developing a proposal which he plans to submit this fall to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the polar ice caps and soils on Mars. He hopes to calculate this crucial number by using information collected by NASA's Mars Atmosphere ad Volatile EvoluioN Mission (<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html">MAVEN</a>), which is orbiting the Red Planet, and the Curiosity land rover driving over the surface. He'll then use computer models to estimate the global amount of CO2 on Mars.</p><p>"If Mars has as much CO2 as Venus does, and it's all pu<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">t into the </span>atmosphere it will get very hot there," McKay said.</p><p><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Perhaps even too hot for humans to live. </span></p><h2><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">What happens if there's not enough</span></h2><p>If there's too much CO2, then instead of a second Earth, we will have spent our energy, money, and efforts to create a second Venus - a hellish world with acid rain, bone-crushing pressures, and lead-melting temperatures.</p><p>Too much CO2 on Mars isn't what McKay is expecting, however: "My worry is that it doesn't have enough to make it as warm as the Earth," he said. "Right now the estimates are that it's too small and so the problem is we don't go far enough."</p><p>Of course, just because Mars is the most likely place we could terraform, it doesn't mean that humans can't still live there under it's current conditions. In this case, however, "live" is an extremely loose term because without terraforming, the only way our bodies can survive beyond Earth is encased in confined space stations or biodomes.</p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In fact, that's the idea that </span><span style="background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the private, nonprofit company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/astronauts-thoughts-on-mars-one-colony-mission-2014-12"><span style="background-color: #ffffff;">Mars One</span></a> has</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> for the first human colony on Mars. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em; text-decoration: line-through;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Their idea would have the planet looking something </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">like this:</span></span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/557aff3b6da811c548818327-1200-706/mars-144.jpg" border="0" alt="mars"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/maritimer-hopes-to-make-third-cut-for-mars-one-mission-1.2222708">Bryan Versteeg / THE CANADIAN PRESS</a></span></p><p class="caption">An artist's rendition of the Mars One settlement is shown in a handout photo.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Past experiments where people lived under such conditions in biodomes here on Earth for long periods of time - years even - <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/man-spent-two-years-in-biosphere-2015-3">haven't gone well</a>. That's not surprising since humans are not engineered to live in a box without direct sunlight, wind, or rain. And with a terraforming approach, we wouldn't have to.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mars-mysterious-plume-cloud-study-2015-2">Scientists are dumbfounded by a mysterious cloud on Mars</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="JqZTdoczp-ZOaSBDl3trL2kZ2hcVOMTA" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'JqZTdoczp-ZOaSBDl3trL2kZ2hcVOMTA',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

There's one crucial number that could ultimately determine whether humans have a chance to live on Mars

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/588b94cc713ba157008b5040-515/screen shot 2016-11-11 at 114506 am.png" alt="elon musk" data-mce-source="Tesla" /><p class="source"><span>Tesla</span></p><p class="caption">Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.</p></div><p></p></div></div>During the 2016 presidential election, Elon Musk was no fan of Donald Trump - the Tesla and SpaceX CEO didn't think the celebrity businessman was the right guy for the job.</p><p>But now that President Trump has the job, Musk has shifted his views. He's joined Trump's council of business advisors and also has become a member of a Trump administration initiative to create more US manufacturing jobs.</p><p>I don't think there are two brains more un-alike that Musk's and Trump's on planet Earth. Adding to all this is Musk's endorsement of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State - a stunning development given Musk's ardent belief that global warming is an existential threat and that humanity needs to exit the fossil-fuel era as quickly as possible.</p><p>So what gives?</p><h2>A visionary who also has to be a businessman</h2><p>It's important to remember that Musk runs two companies (and really three, given Tesla's 2016 acquisition of struggling SolarCity) that have been highly dependent on the US government for everything from Department of Energy loan guarantees back when Tesla was facing extinction in 2008-09 to SpaceX's billion-dollar-plus launch contracts with NASA.</p><p>Musk has often been dinged for this - often by right-leaning GOP and probably Trump supporters who thinks Musk lives off government handouts - but Musk hasn't sought to diminish the debt his companies owe to the American people. You could argue that he's now going about paying it back, in a Trump-friendly manner, by increasing his US-based manufacturing operations at Tesla and SpaceX, including the construction of a massive battery factory in Nevada. </p><p>Musk could be hiring tens of thousands of American workers over the next decade. He could build numerous factories. He could colonize Mars and create vast new opportunities to construct Red Planet casinos, golf courses, and gilded human habitats for the Trump Organization.</p><p>Seriously, Musk is by nature a visionary who also has to function as a businessman, which I quite honestly think isn't second-nature to him. Instead, he operates opportunistically, and in Trump and possibly even more so Tillerson he sees a <em>very big </em>opportunity, once that he's already enhanced by gaining White House access.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/586c88f2f10a9a22008b667c-800/2017-01-04t051853z2lynxmped0303xrtroptp3usa-trump-tillerson.jpg" alt="Rex Tillerson" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Mike Stone/File Photo" data-mce-caption="Chairman and chief executive officer Rex W. Tillerson speaks at a news conference following the Exxon Mobil Corporation Shareholders Meeting in Dallas, Texas, May 28, 2008." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Mike Stone/File Photo</span></p><p class="caption">Rex Tillerson could be a Musk carbon-tax ally.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2><span>'The unpriced externality'</span></h2><p>With Tillerson, Musk has clearly found a person who can pressure Trump on a carbon tax, something that Musk called for in late 2015, during a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris. </p><p><span>"We have to fix the unpriced externality," he said, pointing out that pollution is classic negative externality in economic terms that causes harm to all, but cost to none. He called it a <span>"hidden carbon subsidy of $5.3 trillion per year."</span></span></p><p>Tillerson supported a revenue-neutral carbon tax when he was at ExxonMobil as the best way to de-incentivize carbon generation. Economist and policymakers often agree, but some also think a carbon market would be a more effective means to halting global warming.</p><p>So with Musk, in the first order, we have a connect-the-dots between his reversal of sorts on Trump and his enthusiasm for Tillerson. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/580e71e3362ca427008b45be-1920/spacex-interplanetary-transport-system-rocket-booster-flickr-2993726038635a4b0cec3o.jpg" alt="spacex interplanetary transport system rocket booster flickr 29937260386_35a4b0cec3_o" data-mce-source="Elon Musk/SpaceX/Flickr (public domain)" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/29937260386/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/29937260386/">Elon Musk/SpaceX/Flickr (public domain)</a></span></p><p class="caption">Going to Mars?</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Secondarily, Musk knows that Tesla - and to a lesser degree SpaceX - can give Trump winning headlines about jobs, although detrimentally for Trump they would be jobs in California and Nevada rather than in Ohio or Pennsylvania (SolarCity operations are another story, as the company is now doing business in Buffalo, NY). For Trump, that's a <em>priceless </em>externality and his administration may be willing to reward Musk copiously, with everything from tax breaks to environmental regulations.</p><p>Finally, as many have pointed out, if Trump wants to give a speech about going to Mars and become a terra-cotta-tinged JFK, Musk will be more than happy to see his and SpaceX's stock rise with NASA, where although SpaceX is a customer, it's now confined to low-Earth orbits, leaving the deep-space fun to the guys who went to the Moon.</p><h2>Outdealing the deal king</h2><p>Musk has now joined the auto industry in quickly figuring out that Trump cares more about his brand than he does about the specifics of any deal - regardless of his fading reputation as the greatest dealmaker of all time.</p><p>Car companies are thrilled about Trump's plans to cut corporate taxes and roll back fuel-economy regulations, and their excitement has been dampened by the threat of a border tax on imported cars and parts (they'll just haggle over the specifics while they swell their balance sheets and continue building highly profitable pickups and SUVs). </p><p>To appease Trump, they'll invest some millions and hire at the margins in the US, while hedging against an inevitable sales downturn. The President gets the headlines, and they the get the sweet deal.</p><p>Likewise, Musk sees the best chance he's ever likely to have to get his carbon tax. And he knows that he was going to hire potentially tens of thousands of workers anyway, given that he has to fulfill almost 400,000 advance orders for Tesla's Model 3 mass-market vehicle and increase Tesla deliveries to 500,000 annually in less than two years. He already had the job-creating headlines, ready to go.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/588a499b475752572a8b476f-2400" alt="donald trump sergio marchionne" data-mce-source="Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Trump with the CEO of GM, Mary Barra (L) and FCA, Sergio Marchionne (R).</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Give the CEOs what they want</h2><p>I know this is going to sound cynical, but although Trump ran on being a business guy who would show the Washington political elites how it was done, he really hasn't been much of business force for a long time. And he's certainly no match for contemporary CEOs, especially the technologically sophisticated ones from Silicon Valley and the Big Kahunas from the multinational sphere, the crowd that Tillerson has run with.</p><p>Musk has always been a bit outside this framework because he truly is in it for the species - his companies are just a means to an end: saving the planet. But he knows how to grab his piece of the pie. He didn't secure NASA launch contracts and turn Tesla into a $40-billion-market-cap company because he's an amateur. </p><p>While he was doing that, Trump was hosting TV shows, peddling his brand around the globe, and exploiting the political prospects of conspiracy theories. Everything the new President did was spectacularly visible, of course, and that enabled him to undertake a hostile takeover of the US electorate, fueled by rage, mendacity, and heightened economic inequality, post-financial crisis, in the US.</p><p>So we're seeing what look like win-wins for Trump and the business world. In truth, they're ephemeral victories for the President and outright conquests for industries who priorities can rapidly dovetail with Trump's needs. </p><p>And for Musk, the possibilities are boundless. I'm not kidding: Mars is a two-year spaceflight away, on a SpaceX rocket. Tesla is already worth almost as much on paper as Ford, and Tesla only sold about 80,000 vehicles last year. Of course he's changed his tune on Trump. He can't lose.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-elon-musk-solves-twitter-supercharger-complaint-6-days-2017-1">Elon Musk came up with an ingenious solution to a Tesla owner's Twitter complaint in just 6 days</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Bia2l0ODE60YUqN44tosbq-1x54bqACE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Bia2l0ODE60YUqN44tosbq-1x54bqACE',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Here's why Elon Musk is changing his tune on Trump

<p>While many are at home opening presents, Christmas Day is one of the biggest movie days of the year. </p><p>This year, there are 10 movies opening between Friday and Christmas and a bunch of other wide releases that have opened in the past week.</p><p>If you're considering heading to the theaters, we've rounded up the wider releases that are worth checking out and have also included what you should skip. There are a lot of clunkers.</p><h2><strong>In theaters as of Wednesday, 12/21</strong></h2><h3><strong>1. Skip (at all costs): "Passengers"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a55-2000" alt="passengers chris pratt jennifer lawrence" data-mce-source="Sony Pictures" /><p class="source"><span>Sony Pictures</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about:<span> </span></strong>Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are on a spaceship heading for another planet. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BWWWQzTpNU">Trailers</a> make it seem like the pair's hibernation pods open 90 years too early at the same time and then they fall in love and have to save the ship from danger. </p><p><strong>Why you should skip:</strong> You would think that a Lawrence and Pratt team-up in space would be good, but the reviews tell a much different story. Peter Travers at Rolling Stone wrote, "<a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-passengers-movie-review-w456720">what could have been a challenging moral provocation dissolves into sappy, feel-good pandering.</a><span>"</span></p><p>One of the <a href="http://www.thisisinsider.com/why-passengers-is-bad-2016-12">biggest complaints</a> is that the movie is being marketed as a sci-fi thriller with two of Hollywood's biggest stars when it's actually a creepier story that glorifies Stockholm Syndrome. Pratt's character wakes up alone and after being bored for a year and wanting some company, opens the pod of Aurora (Lawrence) who he's been creepily obsessing over.</p><h3><strong>2. Skip: "Assassin's Creed"</strong></h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57340817dd0895710d8b488e-2400" alt="michael fassbender assassins creed" data-mce-source="Fox" /><p class="source"><span>Fox</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>The Fox movie is the latest adaptation of a popular video game franchise. After learning he's a descendant of a mysterious society called the Assassins, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) uses technology to experience the adventures of his ancestor in 15th Century Spain and take down a dangerous organization.</p><p><strong>Why you should pass:</strong> Hollywood just can't make video game movies and "Assassin's Creed" unfortunately proves no different. While reviews suggest it's better than other video games adaptations, that's not high praise. Many found it a confusing jumble of CG with no idea why big names like Fassbender and Marion Cotillard would attach themselves to the title. EW says these are the <a href="http://ew.com/movies/2016/12/21/assassins-creed-ew-review/">worst two performances Fassbender has given in a movie</a>.</p><h3><strong>3. For the kids: "Sing"</strong></h3><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a56-1846" alt="sing" data-mce-source="Universal" /><p class="source"><span>Universal</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>Basically, it looks like "American Idol" in the form of a children's movie. According to the film's synopsis, it's actually about a koala named Buster Moon trying to save his theater by hosting a singing competition.</p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Other than "Moana," there really isn't any other feel-good animated movie out for kids. For parents who may have already taken their kids to see the Disney flick over the Thanksgiving break, this is something many kids may be asking to see for the bright, colorful, and wacky characters along with the music. Parents may have more fun trying to guess the A-list actors voicing the characters (Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, and Scarlett Johansson are just some of the names.)</p><p><strong>Why to pass:</strong> If you're hoping for "Zootopia," that's not what you're getting here. You'll probably see the ending of this one coming. Still, there are worse things you could see. </p><h3><strong>4. See it: "Patriots Day"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a57-1858" alt="kevin bacon patriots day" data-mce-source="CBS Films" /><p class="source"><span>CBS Films</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about:</strong> Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, and Kevin Bacon star in this movie recounting the Boston Marathon bombing and the efforts taken by the community, police officers, and first responders afterwards. </p><p><strong>Why to see it:</strong> Most audiences and critics agree that the movie <a href="https://www.timeout.com/us/film/patriots-day">balances telling the story from the point-of-view of the victims, officers, and perpetrators</a> in a powerful tribute. This is one you may want to break the tissues out for. It will have a wider release on January 13. </p><h2><strong>In theaters as of Friday, December 23</strong></h2><h3><strong>5. Skip: "Why Him?"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a58-2000" alt="why him" data-mce-source="Scott Garfield/20th Century Fox" /><p class="source"><span>Scott Garfield/20th Century Fox</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>When Ned (Bryan Cranston) and his family visit his daughter at college, they meet her billionaire Silicon Valley boyfriend Laird (James Franco). Covered in tattoos and unabashedly open about what he says, Ned freaks out when Laird says he wants to propose.</p><p><strong>Why to skip:</strong> A James Franco and Bryan Cranston pairing sounds - and looks - hilarious, but apparently, the movie's kind of a dud and not as funny as you hope. Adam Graham of the "Detroit News" said it reminded him of "Meet the Parents" "<a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/movies/2016/12/22/movie-review-will-make-ask-movie/95773542/">but littered with F-bombs.</a>"</p><h3><strong>6. See it: "A Monster Calls"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57c9cd86dd0895313a8b4abd-1500" alt="A Monster Calls" data-mce-source="BBC" /><p class="source"><span>BBC</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>A 13-year-old meets a tree monster who helps him cope with his mom's terminal cancer.</p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Based on a children's book,<strong> </strong>"A Monster Calls" is a dark and yet enchanting coming-of-age tale. Plus, it stars Felicity Jones, who's currently starring in "Star Wars" movie "Rogue One," Sigourney Weaver, and Liam Neeson voices the tree! Jason Guerrasio called the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/a-monster-calls-patrick-ness-oscar-contender-2016-11">Oscar contender a tear-jerker</a> over on our sister site Business <keyword id="79969" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="insider">Insider</keyword>.</p><h3><strong>7. See it: "Silence"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a59-2000" alt="silence" data-mce-source="Kerry Brown/Paramount Pictures" /><p class="source"><span>Kerry Brown/Paramount Pictures</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>Two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) travel to Japan in search of their mentor (Liam Neeson). </p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Martin Scorsese has been trying to adapt Shusaku Endo's 1966 novel for about 30 years, and this has been called one of his best. Plan to spend some time with this one after it's done. NPR referred to it as Scorsese's "<a href="http://www.npr.org/2016/12/23/506341698/scorseses-silence-a-clash-of-cultures-and-creeds-in-16th-century-japan?utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=movies">most punishing film since Raging Bull.</a>" The movie opens wide January 6.</p><h2>In theaters Christmas Day, December 25</h2><h3><strong>8. See it: "Fences"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5a-2400" alt="denzel washington viola davis" data-mce-source="Paramount Pictures" /><p class="source"><span>Paramount Pictures</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>A former Negro League player struggles to provide for his family and raise his son in 1950s Pittsburgh.</p><p><strong>Why to see it:</strong> The talent in this one alone makes it worth seeing. Denzel Washington stars in the film as the father who is holding his son back, but he also directed the film based on a play. Viola Davis co-stars as his wife.</p><h3><strong>9. See it: "Hidden Figures"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5b-1920" alt="Hidden Figures movie" data-mce-source="20th Century Fox" /><p class="source"><span>20th Century Fox</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>The film follows the overlooked story of three African-American women working at Nasa during the launch of astronaut John Glenn into space.</p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer deliver an inspiring story that touches upon social issues while delivering some humor, too. Plus, singer Janelle Monae is in it!</p><h3><strong>10. See it: "20th Century Women" </strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5c-1920" alt="20th Century Women movie" data-mce-source="A24" /><p class="source"><span>A24</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>A single mom in 1979 enlists some of her young tenants to serve as role models to her teenage son.</p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Annette Bening shines in Mike Mills' latest. Reviews agree that Mills' latest is pleasurable and delightful next step for the director.</p><h3><strong>11. Skip: "Live by Night"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5d-1850" alt="live by night" data-mce-source="Warner Bros." /><p class="source"><span>Warner Bros.</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>Set during the prohibition, the film follows the son of a Boston police cop, Joe Coughlin, who goes on to become a gangster involved in organized crime. </p><p><strong>Why to skip: </strong>Despite a cast starring Ben Affleck, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Sienna Miller, the majority of reviews agree this crime saga feels unoriginal and doesn't completely come together.</p><h2><strong>Other movies out:</strong></h2><h3><strong>12. For the romantics/music lovers: "La La Land" </strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5e-2400/llld2905187r.jpg" alt="la la land emma stone ryan gosling" data-mce-source="Summit Entertainment" /><p class="source"><span>Summit Entertainment</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and (Emma Stone) navigate finding success in acting and music in old Hollywood while balancing a relationship.</p><p><strong>Why see it: </strong>Who wouldn't want to see a musical with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dancing and singing? The two have undeniable chemistry and Stone's dresses are the envy of any fashionista. Be warned: This isn't a movie with a happy ending. The whimsical film is dreamlike in its character's aspirations, but realistic in its ultimate message. </p><h3><strong>13. See it: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a5f-2000/undefined" alt="jyn erso rogue one" data-mce-source="Disney/Lucasfilm" /><p class="source"><span>Disney/Lucasfilm</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>A group of rebels set out to steal plans for the ultimate planet killer, the Death Star.</p><p><strong>Why to see it: </strong>Taking place between the prequel and original trilogies, "Rogue One" perfectly marries the older "Star Wars" movies to the newer ones without compromising any of the original storytelling. If anything, it adds to it. Even if you haven't seen any "Star Wars" movies, "Rogue One" serves as a nice entry point into the series. And, yes, it has an awesome Darth Vader scene.</p><h3><strong>14. Skip: "Collateral Beauty"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a60-1844" alt="collateral beauty" data-mce-source="Warner Bros." /><p class="source"><span>Warner Bros.</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>After suffering a great tragedy, Howard (Will Smith) has difficulty bouncing back and has withdrawn himself from his work and friends.</p><p><strong>Why to skip:</strong> Like "Passengers," this is a case of another mis-marketed movie, which may make viewers feel a bit cheated once they realize what it's actually about. Though Howard is being visited by these "spirits," they're actually all actors hired to get him back on his feet. Despite an all-star cast including Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, and Keira Knightley, the movie debuted as Smith's <a href="http://jezebel.com/collateral-beauty-is-unsurprisingly-will-smiths-worst-o-1790272985">worst-performing box-office opening</a>.</p><h3><strong>15. If you're looking for laughs: "Office Christmas Party"</strong></h3><p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/585d9bbedd089536208b4a61-2000" alt="office christmas party" data-mce-source="Paramount Pictures" /><p class="source"><span>Paramount Pictures</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><p><strong>What it's about: </strong>When their boss threatens to shut down their company branch, Josh and Clay decide to throw the ultimate office Christmas party to try and land a big client and save everyone's jobs.</p><p><strong>Why to skip:</strong> If you're not a fan of the comedy group from "Horrible Bosses," you may be rolling your eyes at this one as Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman reteam for this one with some "SNL" cast members. </p><p><strong>Why to see it:</strong> Not everyone will love this one, but I think the reviews are a bit harsh on it. "Office Christmas Party" is just fine, silly fun. Does it get a little over-the-top near the end? Sure, but T.J. Miller really helped sell this movie and add some laughs. If he wasn't in the film, it would have been an instant snooze. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/woman-turned-her-new-york-apartment-into-a-forest-2016-12">This woman turned her Brooklyn apartment into a forest</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RuNzZjODE6679VFIiLBiAGR7uTsGWlq2" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'RuNzZjODE6679VFIiLBiAGR7uTsGWlq2',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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