What to do when NASA's Kepler Spacecraft dies? Launch TESS.

A changing of the guard in NASA's hunt for exoplanets - SpaceNews.com

As Kepler approaches the end of its life, NASA's next mission to search for exoplanets is gearing up for launch. Technicians are completing final tests on the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA mission scheduled for launch this spring.

From article, (Sometime later this year NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, orbiting the sun more than 150 million kilometers from the Earth, will fire its thrusters for the final time. The spacecraft is running out of the hydrazine fuel used by those thrusters to maintain the spacecraft’s orientation. Once the thrusters sputter and shut down, their fuel exhausted, Kepler will no longer be able to control its pointing, and the mission will end.

NASA’s next mission to search for exoplanets is gearing up for launch. At an Orbital ATK facility near Washington Dulles International Airport, technicians are completing final tests on the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA mission scheduled for launch this spring.

TESS, like Kepler, will look for exoplanets by detecting very small changes in brightness of stars as orbiting plans cross, or transit, their disks. But while Kepler initially examined a single, small area of the sky in an effort to determine the fraction of stars with planets, TESS will instead perform an all-sky survey, focused on the brightest stars nearest to Earth.

That search is intended to find exoplanets well-suited to follow up observations by other telescopes, including the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, that can help determine their mass and composition, and even study their atmospheres.

“TESS is tiny, but it punches above its weight,” said George Ricker, principal investigator for TESS at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, during the 
Kepler town hall. “It’s a finder scope for JWST.”

The spacecraft, 1.5 meters tall and weighing a few hundred kilograms, will ship in early February to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for launch processing. TESS will launch no earlier than March 20 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into an elliptical orbit that is in a 2:1 resonance with the moon.

That orbit, Ricker said, is very stable and also allows for high data rates from the spacecraft. However, it limits the days on which TESS can launch in order to phase into the proper trajectory. Ricker said there were about 40 days through June on which TESS could launch.

The four cameras on TESS will map nearly the entire sky over its two-year primary mission. Astronomers expect that TESS will detect thousands of exoplanets, many of which will be ideal for follow-up observations by other telescopes, including the James Webb Space Telescope, to characterize them. Any extended mission, Ricker said, would allow TESS to fill in gaps in observations from its primary mission or do follow-up studies in other parts of the sky.

While TESS has a two-year primary mission, Ricker said he believed that the spacecraft could operate for much longer. The stability of its orbit, he said, requires no station-keeping, and hence limits the use of thrusters. “The operational life of the mission could very well extend for more than two decades,” he said.)


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New Research into Silicon anode Lithium Batteries could double the life of lithium batteries and increase power capability.

Adding graphene girders to silicon electrodes could double the life of lithium batteries

New research led by WMG, at the University of Warwick has found an effective approach to replacing graphite in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries using silicon, by reinforcing the anode's structure with graphene girders. This could more than double the life of rechargeable lithium-ion based batteries and also increase the capacity delivered by those batteries.

From article, (New research led by WMG, at the University of Warwick has found an effective approach to replacing graphite in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries using silicon, by reinforcing the anode's structure with graphene girders. This could more than double the life of rechargeable lithium-ion based batteries and also increase the capacity delivered by those batteries.

research, led by Dr Melanie Loveridge in WMG at the University of Warwick, has discovered, and tested, a new anode mixture of silicon and a form of chemically modified graphene which could resolve these issues and create viable silicon anode lithium-ion batteries. Such an approach could be practically manufactured on an industrial scale and without the need to resort to nano sizing of silicon and its associated problems. The new research has just been published on Tuesday 23rd January 2018) in Scientific Reports in a paper entitled Phase-related Impedance Studies on Silicon-Few Layer Graphene (FLG) Composite Electrode Systems.

Graphene is of course a single, one atom thick layer of the mineral graphite (an allotrope of carbon). However, it also possible to separate and manipulate a few connected layers of graphene giving a material researchers refer to as few-layer graphene (FLG). Previous research has tested the use of FLG with nano-sized silicon but this new study has found that FLG can also dramatically improve the performance of larger micron-sized silicon particles when used in an anode. So much so that this mixture could significantly extend the life of lithium-ion batteries and also offer increased power capability.

The researchers created anodes that were a mixture of 60% micro silicon particles, 16% FLG, 14% Sodium/Polyacrylic acid, and 10% carbon additives, and then examined the performance (and the changes in structure of the material) over a 100 charge-discharge cycles .

Dr Melanie Loveridge, who led the research and is a Senior Research Fellow in WMG at the University of Warwick said:

"The flakes of FLG were mixed throughout the anode and acted like a set of strong, but relatively elastic, girders. These flakes of FLG increased the resilience and elasticity of the material greatly reducing the damage caused by the physical expansion of the silicon during lithiation. The graphene enhances the long range electrical conductivity of the anode and maintains a low resistance in a structurally stable composite."

"More importantly, these FLG flakes can also prove very effective at preserving the degree of separation between the silicon particles. Each battery charge cycle increases the chance that silicon particles become electrochemically welded to each other. This increased agglomeration increasingly reduces and restricts the electrolyte access to all the particles in the battery and impedes effective diffusion of lithium ions, which of course degrades the battery's life and power output. The presence of FLG in the mixture tested by the WMG University of Warwick led researchers to hypothesize that this phenomenon is highly effective in mitigating electrochemical silicon fusion. This has been supported by systematic investigations"

The WMG research team have already begun further work on this technological advance which will include further study and research as part of the graphene spearhead two year project led by Varta Micro-innovations, WMG at the University of Warwick is a partner along with Cambridge University, CIC, Lithops and IIT (Italian Institute of Technology). The main goal of that project is to advance in pre-industrial production of silicon/graphene composites and their subsequent processing into lithium-ion batteries for high-energy and high-power applications. As part of that project WMG at Warwick will be optimising the electrode research, scale up and pouch cell manufacture of the optimised Li-ion batteries.)

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San Diego to Build a Pumped Storage Hydro project that can supply enough energy for 325,000 homes annually.

San Diego to develop hydropower energy storage project

Black & Veatch has been selected to serve as owners' representative for an energy storage facility at the San Vicente Reservoir near Lakeside in San Diego County, California. The project owners, the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego, are assessing the potential to develop the 500 MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility (SVESF) to increase the availability and efficiency of renewable energy for the region.

From article, (The project owners, the San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego, are assessing the potential to develop the 500 MW San Vicente Energy Storage Facility (SVESF) to increase the availability and efficiency of renewable energy for the region. It will provide enough stored energy to supply approximately 325,000 homes annually.

The SVESF will store energy by pumping water to an upper reservoir when energy demand is low and releasing water from the upper reservoir through turbines when energy demand is high.

The pumped-storage hydro energy storage solution would support power grid operations and enable significant and sustained integration of renewable wind and solar energy into the power supply mix. The SVESF would also generate revenue that could help reduce upward pressure on water rates driven by aging infrastructure.

The SVESF project includes the establishment of a small reservoir above the existing San Vicente Reservoir as well as a tunnel system and underground powerhouse to connect the two reservoirs. The powerhouse would contain reversible pump-turbines that would lift water to the upper reservoir or generate energy as it flows down.

During peak energy demand, water would flow downhill to turn hydroelectric turbines. During off-peak periods, including daytime when renewable energy supplies exceed demand, water would be pumped to the upper reservoir.)

BECCS can work if Sustainable Practices are used, for example, Compost, and Manure, and Rain Reservoirs for Watering.

A technology many hoped would fight climate change would cause even bigger environmental problems, scientists say

Widespread use of a futuristic energy technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would create severe environmental problems, scientists argue in a new critique, casting doubt on one potential method of helping humanity escape the worst effects of climate change. The technology, known as bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), comes in many variations.

From article, (Widespread use of a futuristic energy technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would create severe environmental problems, scientists argue in a new critique, casting doubt on one potential method of helping humanity escape the worst effects of climate change.

The technology, known as bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), comes in many variations. But the core idea is burning trees or other plants for energy while pulling in the resulting carbon dioxide and storing it below ground. When the plants grow back again, they would pull more carbon dioxide from the air, resulting in a net removal of the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

The study found that large-scale BECCS initiatives, with biomass plantations stretching over millions of square miles, could store between 1.2 and 6.3 billion tons of carbon annually. That's enough to make a very large dent in global greenhouse gas emissions. However, at this scale, BECCS "could trigger critical environmental feedbacks to the Earth system," the study finds.

BECCS at such a scale would lead to millions of square miles of forest loss and large pressures on biodiversity, the study found. Meanwhile, the huge plantations would require tens of millions of tons of nitrogen fertilizer that would alter flow of this chemical around the Earth, and huge amounts of water — over a trillion tons of it each year.)

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Me, "I disagree! I read an article not to long ago that claimed that if farmers used Compost and Manure, this could naturally reinvigorate soil, plants and trees are grown in, for BECCS. It is not just a healthier way of growing plants. It all but reduces the need for Nitrogen Phosphate fertilizers. Manure is a byproduct of pigs and cows, in the meat and dairy industry. You always hear about huge dams full of liquid manure, that breach, and get into a local river. Instead this manure can be used as a natural fertilizer, creating a new revenue source for the pork, meat and dairy industry. Compost is made from leaves and branches of trees with the use of worms. With BECCS you don't need to burn the leaves, smaller branches, and roots. Just the Trunk. The leaves, small branches, and roots can be crushed up, sprinkled with worms, to make compost.
As for water? I think you just leave that to the rain. We are not growing fruits and vegetables here where water is a necessity. We are growing  fast growing weeds and trees. Weeds will grow anywhere and trees grow at their own rates, anyway, regardless of if we water them or not. But, if BECCS farmers want to water the weeds and trees? Can't they just build their own reservoirs filled with water from rain? Remember, this water does not need to be fit for consumption by humans, just by plants, so you can collect it from many flat area, roofs, roads, etc."

From that article, (The techniques that regenerative farmers use vary with soil, climate and crop. They start from the understanding that healthy soil teems with more than a billion microorganisms per teaspoon and the behavior of those organisms facilitates hardy plant life.

To fertilize their fields, regenerative farmers use nutrient-rich manure or compost, avoiding as much as possible chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which can kill huge quantities of organic matter and reduce plants’ resilience. They don’t like to till the soil, since tillage increases carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

California began in 2015 to incorporate soil health into the state’s farm and ranch operations. Some of the pioneering studies showing regenerative agriculture’s benefits have been carried out at the Marin Carbon Project on a self-proclaimed carbon-farming ranch in the pastoral reaches of Marin County, 30 miles northwest of San Francisco. A four-year study there showed that a one-time application of compost caused an increase in plant productivity that has continued ever since, and that the soil’s carbon content grew year after year, at a rate equivalent to the removal from the atmosphere of 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide per acre annually.)

Collected Tax should be used only in the City or County it is Collected, to fund Capital Programs that benefit that City or County.

De Blasio administration slams Cuomo plan to wring MTA money from city

The de Blasio administration Tuesday ripped into Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by laying hands on city tax revenues. The governor's executive budget for the coming fiscal year would enable the MTA, which he controls, to establish carve-out districts within the city to confiscate their property tax proceeds to fund local transit improvements.

 From article, (The de Blasio administration Tuesday ripped into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority by laying hands on city tax revenues.

The governor’s executive budget for the coming fiscal year would enable the MTA, which he controls, to establish carve-out districts within the city to confiscate their property tax proceeds to fund local transit improvements. This tool, called “tax increment financing,” partially underwrote the extension of the 7 line to the Hudson Yards development under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

But the creation of those tax districts involved the City Council, and the benefits accrued largely to residents of the five boroughs. The de Blasio administration called the idea “outrageous” in a phone call with reporters, noting that some of the projects—including plans to bring Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal—serve mainly bridge-and-tunnel types.)

Me, "All that is needed, is for this tax, that would be collected in the five boroughs, to just be used by the MTA, for projects for the five boroughs. Any project that benefits Long Island should have a separate, but similar tax, collected in Long Island for its capital programs.
 I swear its like dealing with kids. You're supposed to be politicians! Would you grow up?"

Direct Tolling, on Federal Highway, will allow State and Local governments, the funding to reconstruct, expand highway, and road projects.

Mixed reaction to leaked infrastructure plan

A leaked six-page memo that purportedly outlines some of the key principles of the Trump administration's long-awaited infrastructure plan is drawing fire from several corners of the trucking industry - especially regarding plans to allow states to broaden interstate tolling efforts and commercialize rest stops.

 From article, (A leaked six-page memo that purportedly outlines some of the key principles of the Trump administration’s long-awaited infrastructure plan is drawing fire from several corners of the trucking industry – especially regarding plans to allow states to broaden interstate tolling efforts and commercialize rest stops.

“Our primary concern is that the memo talks about giving states the ‘flexibility’ to toll existing interstates and ‘reconcile the grandfathered restrictions on the use of highway toll revenues with current law.’ We’re gearing up for a big fight over that,” Stephanie Kane, spokesperson for the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, told Fleet Owner.

Related: ATRI: Fuel tax best method for highway funding

She added that one of her group’s biggest concerns is that the broader use of tolls will shift highway traffic – especially truck traffic – to secondary roads, creating more congestion and potential freight delivery delays.

“We feel tolls are a form of underhanded taxation [and this plan] translates to a complete reversal of the current federal ban on tolling existing interstates,” she added. “Tolls are simply a new tax; they are wildly inefficient, sacrificing money that could go toward construction instead going to corporate profits and administrative costs. In addition to the diversion onto secondary roads, which causes congestion and public safety issues, tolls will do unimaginable harm to businesses, as shipping and manufacturing prices skyrocket to account for these new costs.”

The truck stop and travel plaza trade group NATSO is also unhappy with some of the Trump administration’s tolling proposal as well as other aspects of its “privatization” focus on infrastructure funding.

Other key aspects of the Trump administration’s infrastructure memo include:

• Encourage more private and local investment in infrastructure projects through the broader use of federal grants, including the broader use of “advance refunding bonds” to refinance private activity bonds.
• Focus 25% of federal infrastructure appropriations on investment in rural areas.
• Dedicate 10% to a “Transformative Projects Program” under the Commerce Department’s control that would provide “federal funding and technical assistance to projects that cannot obtain private funding.
• Devote 7% of appropriations to expanding federal lending programs to grow investments, with another 5% establishing a “revolving fund” to finance the acquisition of property for infrastructure projects.)

Me, "First, Truckers should pay tolls on Federal highways because its their trucks that damage it, needing it to be rebuilt. The money has to come from somewhere. With semi-trucks going electric, the gas tax won't be enough to fund reconstruction. 

Second, as we have seen in NJ,  If truckers try to avoid these tolled highways, local municipalities can institute bans on using their local roads as thruways, keeping truck traffic on the tolled Highway. 

"I think this is a very thought out plan. Tolling highways will lead to truckers, either, trying to reduce their costs by switching to more fuel efficient trucks, or electric trucks to cut out the gas tax, and will free up road traffic by making drivers only use it when they really need too. This will allow CO2 emissions to go down. Also, to cut down on truck shipping costs, more freight will be sent via rail or ship to ports closer to its intended delivery point. The needless long hauling of Truck Freight, on highways, would go down. 
There should be limits on how high a toll can be raised, so as not to over toll a road, but other than that highway tolling pays for direct, State, reconstruction and expansion of roads and highways. 
Car drivers would see an improvement too, because traffic would go down. As more people combine trips to reduce toll fees, and they would know that their tolls are going directly to their state or local government, to be used, on roads they use." 

Cuomo Intent on Fixing MTA

Cuomo floats MTA revenue fixes in budget address

Share on Facebook Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive budget address admitted that Fiscal Year 2019 would be a complicated one for the state in terms of closing a $4.4 billion deficit with a $168.1 billion spending plan.

  From article, (Cuomo made clear his intention to fix the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and establish a dedicated revenue stream by enacting congestion pricing — charging drivers in congested Manhattan neighborhoods.

“In many ways, this is going to be the most challenging budget that we’ve had to do. It intertwines a number of economic and policy and legal issues that makes the situation complicated. It’s not just the budget this year, it’s really an economic transformation plan that we’re talking about.” Cuomo said Tuesday before explaining how the Payroll Mobility Tax, which levies about $1.6 billion per year, could possibly go directly to the MTA as a dedicated revenue stream:

“We would change the law so that the MTA collects the tax itself. It now has a dedicate funding stream, can securitize it, it can get a better credit rating from it, it can finance the installation of the Fix New York City, the Penn Renovation, etc.”

Fix NYC was established by the governor as a panel to deliberate on how to enact congestion pricing at tolls going into Manhattan during peak hours. According to Cuomo, a report from Fix NYC was to be released at the end of the week defining hours, fees and geographic zones for congestion pricing, which will be collected through cashless tolling.

Queens pols have been vocally opposed to congestion pricing on East River bridges since the proposal was announced by Cuomo over the summer, Including Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Fresh Meadows).

“I am pleased to hear that the governor did not include tolls on the East River bridge crossings, which have been free since 1911, as part of his 2018 Executive Budget Proposal,” Weprin said. “As I’ve expressed before, tolls impose an unfair burden on the middle class, small businesses, and those who cannot access public transportation. I’d like to ensure that any congestion zone will keep the needs of all New Yorkers, including the many the working New Yorkers who often commute from the outer boroughs and who do not have easily available access to public transportation, in mind.”)

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To turn this plan into policy Cuomo No longer has to charm De Blasio. He will, though, have to charm Albany lawmakers.

The price is right on congestion pricing

Gov. Cuomo's congestion pricing panel just made a critical contribution to public policy, producing a potent, pragmatic plan to curb maddening Manhattan traffic and fund the subways.

From article, (Gov. Cuomo’s congestion pricing panel just made a critical contribution to public policy, producing a potent, pragmatic plan to curb maddening Manhattan traffic and fund the subways.

A plan is not a policy.

Which is why Cuomo must now twist arms in the Assembly and Senate. And de Blasio, who after months of irrational resistance rooted in phantom fears of fairness is finally coming around, must urge the city’s Albany reps to get on board.

But an equally lasting achievement of the 15-member Fix NYC commission may be building a bridge that connects the two politicians with the most at stake: Cuomo, who runs the MTA, and Mayor de Blasio, who owns the wheezing subways, and whose constituents are tired of both train dysfunction and street traffic.

 The report skillfully addressed the many complaints de Blasio has detailed since Cuomo’s transformational realization that charging drivers coming into Manhattan was essential.

Hizzoner didn’t want tolls on the East River bridges, so there would be a way for a person to drive from Brooklyn and Queens into Manhattan without paying. The panel complied.

The mayor carped about poor patients having to pay on the way to the hospital. Presbyterian, Mount Sinai and New York Hospital are outside the zone; maybe they can even concoct a carve-out for Bellevue and NYU.

Most importantly, the panel demolished de Blasio’s objections about who would pay, demonstrating that only 4% of nearly 3 million people from the boroughs drive to work in Manhattan — and most of them are well-to-do. The working poor account for an infinitesimal 0.17%, or 5,000.

Winning passage will likely require a few tweaks here and there. Half-fare MetroCards for poor folks, called Fair Fares, are a good idea and can grease the wheels.

Cuomo wants to cut bridge tolls outside the zone. We are all for it, as are borough lawmakers.

De Blasio wants all the revenues, projected in the range of $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year, dedicated to transit. 

An easy yes.)

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Can a Private Company launch satellites into space without government assistance? Ask Rocket Lab.

This startup just took a major step forward in commercializing space

A U.S. space startup has become the first ever private company to successfully send satellites into orbit without the help of a government agency, paving the way for a "new era" of commercial access to space. Rocket Lab, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, deployed three satellites on only the second test launch of its Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing.

From article, (A U.S. space startup has become the first ever private company to successfully send satellites into orbit without the help of a government agency, paving the way for a “new era” of commercial access to space. 

Rocket Lab, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, deployed three satellites on only the second test launch of its Electron orbital launch vehicle, Still Testing.

“Reaching orbit on a second test flight is significant on its own, but successfully deploying customer payloads so early in a new rocket program is almost unprecedented,” said Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck.

Compared to rocket launches from other private companies, Rocket Lab lifted off without using government infrastructure and without the assistance of government agencies.

 The isolated location of Rocket Lab’s launch spot means it is permitted by regulators to launch up to 120 times a year, more than any other commercial or government launch provider in history.)


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The Boring Company needs to convince County Board members that It will not affect residents as it tunnels underneath their homes, and would hire consultants to brief the county board.

Elon Musk Now Wants to Dig Another Tunnel Under LA

The Boring Company sure sounds sexy. It's founded and funded by Elon Musk, the guy who makes electric cars (Tesla) and sends rockets into space (SpaceX). It has come up with a new-albeit unproven-concept for dismantling traffic. It wants to build underground creations that you, mere human, can ride at speeds up to to 150 mph, without ever encountering a speck of traffic.

 THE BORING COMPANY sure sounds sexy. It’s founded and funded by Elon Musk, the guy who makes electric cars (Tesla) and sends rockets into space (SpaceX). It has come up with a new—albeit unproven—concept for dismantling traffic. It wants to build underground creations that you, mere human, can ride at speeds up to to 150 mph, without ever encountering a speck of traffic. But before it sinks its machines into the ground and tunnels to victory, the Boring Company has to do something truly monumental: get past local government.

On Monday evening, Boring Company operations chief Jehn Balajadia stood before the city council of LA County's Culver City, and spent 45 minutes explaining why Musk wants and deserves the right to dig a tunnel under their homes. The sometimes chippy meeting was packed with members of the public, and highlighted both the exciting and not quite consistent elements of the transportation company's plans.

Balajadia said the Boring Company is done with its tech development phase, and is ready to carve out a "proof of process" tunnel that would run 6.5 miles between the city of Los Angeles and Culver City, its neighbor to the west. Part of the goal here is to test the company's ability to build across jurisdictions and handle all the hurdles that entails. She said the company has already asked LA for an excavation permit, and is working with Caltrans, the state transportation agency, to secure the right of way beneath public roads.

Musk came up with the Boring Company in late 2016 while stuck in LA traffic. He could destroy the scourge of congestion, he figured, by building layers upon layers of underground tunnels, each just wide enough for a personal car or a multi-passenger pod. Those vehicles would ride on electric skates that would zoom everyone along at triple-digit speeds. And, he insisted, he could do it far more cheaply and at least four times faster than typical tunneling tech—a claim he hasn't proven, and which tunneling engineers doubt. Longer tunnels between cities, Musk added, could contain the hyperloop, his idea for a levitating train that works in a near-vacuum tube.

By early last year, Musk had purchased a used tunnel boring machine and began building a test trench under SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, in LA County. By August, the Boring Company had secured the city of Hawthorne’s permission to build a 2-mile test tunnel beneath the city streets.

Balajadia focused on the “Loop,” the small pods meant to transport multiple passengers, rather than the individual Teslas highlighted in the Boring Company’s first promotional video. She said the Boring Company’s system would complement the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s expanding public transportation network, and that it would not ask for any taxpayer funding. And she said the cost of a ride in a Boring Company pod would be “comparable, if not lower, than than any existing public transportation.” (An LA Metro bus ride costs $1.75.)

Balajadia also revealed a few more new details about the Boring Company’s hard to nail down technical plans. Though the tunnel system will have many entrances and exits, any given pod will take all its riders to a single destination, rather than pausing at each stop, like a subway. In a document it submitted to the Culver City Council, the Boring Company writes, “The electric skates are faster than conventional subway cars, and are autonomous vehicles. Most importantly, Loop is an ‘express’ public transit system... Therefore, unlike trains, the skate’s average speed is very close to its maximum speed.”

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In 10 Years Elon Musk may be the richest person in the world

Tesla Tops Up All-In Bet on Musk With $2.6 Billion Option Award

It is the Elon Musk of corporate pay deals, a cocksure, all-or-nothing moonshot into history. Little wonder, then, that it is for none other than Elon Musk. Tesla Inc. granted the billionaire founder a $2.6 billion award, the largest-ever of its kind, underscoring the company's outsize ambitions and how intimately connected its future success is to Musk

 From article, (Tesla Inc. granted the billionaire founder a $2.6 billion award, the largest-ever of its kind, underscoring the company’s outsize ambitions and how intimately connected its future success is to Musk. If fully vested over a decade, stock options would net him as much as $55.8 billion. Along the way, nothing would be guaranteed -- zero salary or cash bonuses.

The audacious award outlines a plan for Tesla to become one of the world’s biggest companies, which would make Musk perhaps the richest man on the planet in the process, but without as detailed a road map to get there as was provided with his last award. This, too, is very Musk-like -- set big-picture, moonshot end goals, particulars be damned.
 The award granted Jan. 21 appears to be Tesla’s way to put to rest questions of Musk’s future at the company, since the award is contingent on him remaining chief executive officer, or executive chairman and chief product officer. The plan laid out in a statementTuesday leaves open the possibility for the company to “bring in another CEO who would report to Elon.”

While Musk’s 2012 grant was linked to development and production of electric cars, his new package of 20.3 million options is tied solely to financials -- raising Tesla’s market value to $650 billion, roughly in line with Amazon.com Inc., and boosting either revenue or adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The grant vests in 12 increments if both market value hurdles and either one of the financial goals are met. The grant will require shareholder approval at a meeting in March.

The opportunity to acquire more shares will also enable Musk to continue to use his Tesla holdings to back personal loans, which he’s done for several years. Musk had 11.5 million shares pledged as collateral as of April 20, a filing shows.

If the award fully vests, Musk would own a 28 percent stake in the company worth about $184 billion, vaulting him to the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos currently sits atop the index with a $111.5 billion net worth as of Monday’s close in New York. Musk’s stake in SpaceX constitutes about half of his current net worth of $21.5 billion.)

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