Free Republic

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is a big "Hitchhiker's Guide" fan, as Starman's Roadster shows. The car's entertainment display was programmed to read "Don't Panic!" — the phrase that adorns the cover of the eponymous electronic guidebook in Adams' beloved series. Musk has said that he launched the Roadster and Starman because the duo is a lot more fun than the typical inert-mass dummy payload... Launching a satellite or other valuable spacecraft wasn't an option, given the risks inherent in maiden flights. The Roadster and Starman will come within a few hundred thousand kilometers of our planet in 2091,...

After yesterday's good news regarding delivery of the 100th Tesla Roadster, it's back to number-crunching reality. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the Detroit Free Press that if the electric car maker doesn't get a $350 million loan from the government, then the Model S will be delayed and San Jose plant won't open. Just two weeks ago, Tesla opposed the Big Three getting any bailout money from the government. So, Musk's statement may seem contradictory, but it's not. We just need to look at the details. Tesla's Vice President of Business Development, Diarmuid O'Connell, blogged about how it was a...

------------------------------------------------------------------------Posted on Sat, Sep. 14, 2002 Bowling Green plant to build new Cadillacs BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Test production of a new line of Cadillac sports cars will create 128 new jobs at the General Motors factory here, although most of them will go to outsiders. The plant is expected to reach full production by April of the Cadillac XLR, a $70,000, two-seat sports car that goes on sale next year. All but about 20 of the new jobs will go to workers already employed by GM in factories elsewhere. The Bowling Green plant was specifically chosen for the production...

Police Investigate Rodent in a Roadster Sun Sep 8, 9:56 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - British detectives are investigating the mystery of a hamster found driving a toy racing car along a promenade at a northern seaside resort, newspapers said on Saturday. The hamster, nicknamed Speedy, was handed in by a member of the public who found him cruising through Cleveleys, near Blackpool in the modified toy, which he powered by a treadmill. "It is a model hotrod racing car with large wheels at the back and small ones at the front," the Daily Express quoted Constable Quentin Allen...