Hans Degraeuwe

Next Big Thing: Modular SkyScrapers for MegaCities... There is nothing in the world as powerful as an Idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

🚀 SpaceX's Starship had a successful launch this morning and deployed 26 enormous V3 Starlink satellites into orbit for the first time. All 26 satellites are in communication contact already with lasers and multiple microwave links. CONGRATS team SpaceX!

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

🚀 Starships are meant to fly!

Beautiful sights and sounds from the ground this morning. It was the first commercial orbital launch for the largest launch vehicle in history!

[The Otter Mechanicus 🦦 @0ddiZeMechanic]

@Horstbierbarbar @u2n82 Würde schon 2022 entwickelt und war schon 2025 in Frankreich im Einsatz zur Erprobung. Aber wenn das erst gekauft wird, wenn die Kacke schon am dampfen ist. 🤷🏼‍♂️

https://t.co/9ajxxEkunz

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

🪨 Happy International Rock Day!
Yeah, it’s today. So here are some gorgeous crystals I have collected this year:

1) Watermelon Tourmaline on Albite, from Afghanistan. Tourmaline crystals form when boron-rich hydrothermal fluids and gases interact with cooling magma deep within the Earth's crust. Tourmaline can form in a wider variety of colors than any other gemstone. The color bands come from changes in the chemical composition of the hydrothermal fluid over millions of years. For instance, a high concentration of manganese forms a pink inner core, which later transitions to green as the fluid gains iron, creating the famous "watermelon tourmaline" seen here.

2) Fluorite with Hematite on Calcite, from India. Like cherries hanging in a quartz-lined geode, the spheroid form of fluorite is rare, even more so with the red tint from hematite. Botryoidal fluorite forms when mineral-rich fluids crystallize rapidly around many tiny nuclei (such as sand or dust) in a radial pattern. This high-speed growth prevents the mineral from forming its usual sharp, cubic faces, resulting instead in smooth, spherical, or "grape-like" globular clusters. Instead of layering on top of an existing, flat atomic lattice, the molecules rapidly build outward in all directions from multiple points.

3) Amethyst with halos of Calcite, from China. The white "dog tooth" calcite scalenohedrons (12-faced crystals) grew epitaxially on the amethyst with accents of red-brown Hematite phantoms. Amethyst and calcite form in the same gas bubbles (making geodes). As the environment fluctuates, mineral-rich waters first deposit silica and trace iron (creating the purple amethyst) and later deposit calcium carbonate (forming the scalenohedral calcite).

4) Rhodochrosite atop a mound of black Tetrahedrite, Colorado. The trigonal cleavage of the red rhombohedral crystal is pronounced. In regions with a history of volcanic activity, hot aqueous fluids circulate deep underground. They pick up manganese and as temperature and pressure drop, manganese carbonate (MnCO₃) precipitates out, crystallizing into a beautiful rose-red mineral.

This crystal curiosity of mine precipitated from my interest in space rocks... like the beautiful bundle of crystals in the post below, the oldest known planetary rock in our solar system, before Earth formed….

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

Tesla’s secret strategy to bring air conditioning to Europe!

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

Some new camera angles for the beautiful Starship launch today.
First flight of the Starlink V3 mega-satellites coming up...

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

🚀 The first soft splashdown of Starship!
It's just bobbing in the sea at the target location in the Indian Ocean. Tons of post-flight data on heat shield performance from the drones now swarming overhead...

[Hans Degraeuwe @hafdeg]

@Jassmini2 @UBhutto80724 “Vingerhoedjes” to be used to protect fingertips when repairing clothing

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

And thank you to the Morgan Stanley trading crew in “Mission Control” sculpting the debut of $SPCX today.

Here is the moment of first trade.

P.S. Elon finally agreed to the IPO greenshoe options… but only if the bankers all wore green shoes. 👟
—> Mementos for all.

[THOMAS DEWEZ @tomdewez]

Merci @AnnickDeRidder @elonmusk
Finally have FSD in Belgium 🇧🇪
#FSD #Tesla #Belgium
@SawyerMerritt

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

G-Shot gave the opening speech for the opening bell… anticipating the largest securities offering in history later today. $SPCX

To celebrate this historic moment, I gave her the gift of mars…. Her first Mars rock which came to Earth as a meteorite.

[S.E. Robinson, Jr. @SERobinsonJr]

TESLA: SPIE Belgium was selected by Tesla to install and connect 180 Megapack 3s for developer Storm at a site in Kluisbergen (Ruien), Belgium.

The project, valued at over EUR 100 million ($116.4 million), will create one of Belgium’s largest battery sites with several hundred MWh capacity.

SPIE is responsible for electrical integration, cabling, high-voltage substation construction, and connection to the 380 kV network.

Foundation and civil work has started; installation begins in November 2026, with full completion scheduled for end of 2027.

More Tesla news in today's ELON CHRON below!

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Starship flip and landing burn at the end of its twelfth flight test

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

🚀What a week!
We have a new perspective on Starship flying in orbit — from a satellite it deployed through the "Pez Dispenser." The satellite has cameras and bright flashlights facing back toward Starship for full-body inspection in space.

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

The Rapture of Raptors

[Jonas DM. @dm_jns]

Great news for FSD in Belgium ! 🇧🇪

Tesla has received approval to begin FSD testing on Belgian road, starting as early as tomorrow!

Following the Netherlands, Belgium is now moving forward with real-world testing of Full Self-Driving Supervised on public roads!

I keep you posted!

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Next flight of Starship and first flight of V3 ship & booster is 4 to 6 weeks away

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

And the astronauts, looking back at us

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

@NASAArtemis and a wild detail there... the engine you see is an RL-10.
I have one in my office. It has been flying for over 60 years! https://t.co/e0L1OFz61C

[Steve Jurvetson @FutureJurvetson]

You have to admit, NASA launching the new Artemis moon mission on April Fool’s Day is a great way to troll the morons who think heroic moon missions are a hoax.