Elon Musk just unveiled the second-generation Tesla Roadster at a SpaceX test site in Texas. He’s billing the high-end sports car as a “flying” machine. The original Roadster went out of production over a decade ago. The new one, built with SpaceX technology, uses cold-gas thrusters to go from zero to 60 mph in under a second. It can also drive up a towering ramp upside down, and launch into a midair flip before landing back on the ground. It's technically not a flying car, but it's close to it.
© AFP via Getty Images"You’re going to see some crazy stuff tonight,” Musk told the cheering crowd, per The Detroit News. “We need an audience to prove that it’s not AI or SI, so you guys can tell people you saw it with your eyes.” The Roadster will reportedly go into production in 2028.
His mom, Maye Musk, was reliably in his corner. She shared photos and videos on her social media. "I’m the proudest mom in the world. What did Elon do last night? Many details and videos are on the news and on Instagram all day long," she wrote in a post, adding numerous heart-faced emojis.
Maye and Elon's close relationship
© NBCMaye Musk has often spoken about her belief in her son and his intelligence. “Well, at 3, I knew he was a genius, but you still don’t know if he’s going to do great things,” she told CBS This Morning in 2021.
“Because many geniuses end up in a basement being a genius but not applying it. So I was so excited when he started Zip2 because it just made life easier with door-to-door directions, and then newspapers could have a link that took you to a restaurant. I know that’s common now, but that was highly unusual, and people didn’t believe that that’s possible, and so that’s why I invested in that at the very beginning.”
© Dimitrios KambourisMaye’s own story is one of reinvention. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and raised in South Africa, the 78-year-old built a parallel career as a dietitian alongside decades of modeling. She was married to Errol Musk from 1970 to 1979, and the couple had three children: Elon, Kimbal and Tosca.
In her 2019 memoir, A Woman Makes a Plan, she described the marriage as abusive. She opened up about her decision to leave South Africa for Canada as a way to build a better future for her kids. Since then, she's worked on a second memoir called Timeless, which is coming out this September.
Rewriting the rules on aging
Long before she was Tesla’s proudest fan, Maye was one of the modeling world's most recognizable faces and a loud voice against ageism. In 2013, she appeared in Beyoncé’s music video for “Haunted." In 2017, at 69, she signed on as a CoverGirl ambassador, becoming the oldest model the brand had ever featured. in 2022, she made history as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover star at 74.
“As I got into my 60s, people were talking about aging and being scared of aging, and I’m saying, ‘Why are you scared of aging?’” she said on CBS This Morning in 2021. “I mean, for example, when you turn 50, women are scared of losing their jobs. But then men become CEOs and presidents, so what’s that about?”
Her advice is to change the dynamic and to be ruthless about it: “If somebody’s making you feel bad about your age, just say goodbye. You don’t need that person in your life.”
© Penguin Publishing Group
