Tesla's Flying Roadster Reveal: Upside-Down Driving, Mid-Air Flips, and the SpaceX Thrusters Behind Them

The Tesla Roadster doesn't want to be a punch line anymore.

credit: Tesla

Yesterday, Tesla finally showed the world what nine years of waiting looks like. At a stunt-filled event at SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, the company revealed its next-generation Tesla Roadster, and the demonstration was pure science fiction: the car drove upside down on a curved ramp, launched into the air, spun through a mid-air corkscrew, and landed safely.

The headline feature is the long-rumored SpaceX thruster package, a cold-gas propulsion system adapted from rocket technology. Here is everything the reveal showed, how the "flying" actually works, and the significant catches Elon Musk is not emphasizing.

What Happened at the Texas Roadster Reveal

The October 15, 2026 event was staged for maximum spectacle. The Roadster drove up a C-shaped ramp, came to a complete stop while fully upside down, then launched off the upper edge. Onboard thrusters fired, the car hovered briefly, executed what Tesla dubbed a "kick flip", a full 360-degree spin over a lineup of Tesla's own vehicles, including a Cybertruck, a Semi, a Model Y, and a Model 3, and then touched down.

An Optimus humanoid robot sat in the driver's seat, but Tesla confirmed the maneuvers were fully pre-programmed autonomous routines, not a human stunt driver at work. The company also posted a thruster-assisted 0-to-60 mph run of 0.81 seconds on its own timing equipment, a figure that would shatter every production-car acceleration record if it holds up outside a controlled demo.

Three Trims: Performance, Thrust, and Rocket

Tesla is offering the Roadster in three configurations, and they are very different machines.

The two-seat Performance trim is described as "road ready." It uses active aerodynamics and an underbody suction system for extreme track performance, with a claimed 0-to-60 time under 1.6 seconds. Reservations require a $50,000 deposit.

The Thrust trim is billed as "race ready," adding rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters to the suction system. Tesla claims 0-to-60 in under 0.9 seconds. This version requires a $250,000 deposit.

credit: Tesla

Then there is the Rocket trim: single-seat, invite-only, and described as "air ready." It carries the full flight system, ten cold gas thrusters positioned around the car. Tesla states plainly that this version is not approved for public-road use.

How the "Flying Car" Actually Works

The aerial stunts come from two separate systems. The upside-down driving is handled by multi-mode fans mounted beneath the car combined with a ground-sealing system. The fans actively evacuate air from under the chassis, generating enormous artificial downforce that glues the vehicle to inverted surfaces, even while stationary.

The flight maneuvers use cold-gas attitude-control thrusters adapted from SpaceX technology. According to Tesla engineering chief Lars Moravy, the car carries 600 liters of compressed air, with roughly 250 kilograms of it stored in Carbon Fiber Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, the same tank design SpaceX uses on its rockets, packed into every usable void in the vehicle. The tanks can recharge themselves, so no special refueling equipment is needed.

Driven by all-electric actuators, the thrusters make micro-adjustments within milliseconds to control pitch and stabilize descent. That is what allowed the mid-air corkscrew: short, violent, precisely controlled bursts of compressed air.

To be clear about what this is not: nobody has demonstrated sustained, airplane-like flight. Each jump was carefully planned and lasted only moments. The system produces brief hops and hovers, not a commute through the sky.

Speed, Range, and Price of Tesla Roadster

The headline numbers are staggering. Beyond the 0.81-second 0-to-60 sprint, Tesla claims a top speed exceeding 230 mph, with Musk suggesting the car could eventually "crack halfway to the speed of sound," roughly 380 mph. Promised range is over 300 miles on a single charge, though that is less than half of the 620 miles Musk originally promised back in 2017.

Pricing starts at $200,000, with a $250,000 Founders Series tier. The cabin features seats molded into the chassis, plus yoke steering with steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire, and throttle-by-wire systems. Musk called the Roadster "the last best driver's car," saying it will long-term be the only manually driven car Tesla makes, with everything else using various levels of self-driving.

Here's "The Catch" of the Tesla Roadster Rocket trim

For all the spectacle, the fine print is substantial. The Rocket trim, the one that actually flies, is not street-legal and is invite-only. No FAA aircraft certification exists for the Roadster, and without it, genuine flight capability cannot legally be marketed as such in US airspace.

The thrusters are also reported to be loud enough to cause hearing damage, which is why spectators were kept hundreds of yards back and the demo car was remotely operated. Musk himself conceded the car is "not necessarily a safety-optimized car" and that flying it may not be "legal in all jurisdictions."

Then there is the timeline. Musk confirmed production is slated for 2028, a full decade after the 2017 reveal that originally promised 2020 delivery. Given the car's history of serial delays, even that date deserves skepticism. And notably, Tesla's stock fell 1.4 percent the day after the reveal, suggesting investors were more impressed by the showmanship than the business case for a six-figure halo car.

Still, as pure spectacle, it is hard to argue with a production-shaped electric car doing corkscrews through the air. The flying car has been a punchline for decades. Yesterday, for a few seconds at a time, Tesla made it real.

Things We Expect to See in NCIS: NY Premiere Episode

Photo via sandrarose.com

SPOILER ALERT: This post reveals details from the NCIS: New York series premiere, including plot points and a guest-star appearance. If you'd rather watch it fresh, come back after you've seen the episode.

When Does NCIS: New York Premiere?

The new series debuts in October 2026, premiering Tuesday, October 6 at 9/8c on CBS as the middle chapter of a full night of NCIS programming — the flagship series launches its 24th season at 8 p.m., and NCIS: Origins returns for season 3 at 10 p.m. New episodes will air weekly on Tuesdays and stream on Paramount+, where Premium subscribers can watch live and on demand and Essential subscribers get each episode the day after it airs.

Sam Hanna Gets His Own Team

At the heart of the show is Sam Hanna, once again played by LL Cool J, who embodied the special agent for 14 seasons of NCIS: Los Angeles. This time, Sam heads home to New York City to take charge of a brand-new NCIS field office team. The premiere, titled "Pilot," turns personal right away: Sam's friend and Navy reservist Jack Halloway is found dead, and Sam gets Robyn Wells' permission to investigate the death himself. Wells pairs him with Nick Schaeffer, played by Scott Caan, and the fledgling team begins to come together around the case.

Meet the New York Cast

Alongside LL Cool J and Scott Caan, the ensemble includes Jennifer Beals and Devin Druid. The premiere also introduces fellow team members Robyn Wells, Wyatt Sellers, Addy Ross, and Sean Sullivan. It's a fresh lineup, but not a reboot — the series builds directly on Sam Hanna's established history and expands the existing NCIS universe into a new city.

A Surprise Crossover in the Very First Episode

Here's the most exciting part of the debut: Brian Dietzen guest-stars as Dr. Jimmy Palmer, giving NCIS: New York its first franchise crossover before a single episode has even aired. Palmer reunites with Sam Hanna, and the two share history from an earlier three-show crossover spanning NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: Hawai'i, during which both characters were kidnapped alongside Vanessa Lachey's Jane Tennant. Dietzen has played Palmer since the flagship's first season and became a series regular in season 10 — this is his third spinoff appearance in the role, following NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS: Hawai'i. Showrunner Byron Balasco has said the door is open for more familiar franchise faces to stop by, so Palmer may just be the beginning.

Why New York Changes the Formula

The franchise has already taken viewers to Los Angeles, New Orleans, Hawai'i, Sydney, and back in time with Origins. New York offers something different: one of the world's busiest ports, major transportation hubs, a massive population, and endless institutions and neighborhoods for stories to grow out of. The city itself is being positioned as almost another character on the show, giving the writers a huge new playground while keeping the franchise's familiar mix of investigation, action, teamwork, and personal stakes that define its crime drama identity.

What Comes Next

The second episode, titled "Family Business" and airing October 13, follows stolen military explosives with deadly consequences. With a personal mystery driving the premiere, a beloved crossover character in episode one, and the promise of more familiar faces, NCIS: New York is launching with real momentum. The question now is whether Sam Hanna's new team can carve out its own identity — and if the premiere is any indication, fans have a lot to look forward to.

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode Recap on AMC

The Walking Dead Season 4 Premiere on AMC

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 premiere aired Sunday October 13, 2013 on AMC. The episode is titled "30 days Without an Accident."

Counting down to the premiere of Season 4, AMC aired a marathon of The Walking Dead episodes, so viewers could catch up on missed episodes building up to the new season.

Where will the show's band of survivors go in Season 4? Will they stay at the prison if zombies figure out a way to overrun the prison fences?

In Season 2, the band of survivors stayed on a farm. Season 3, they were holed up in a prison, surrounded by prison fences that were topped with Byzantine barb wire. But zombies still found a way in.

In Season 3, The main character, Rick (played by Andrew Lincoln), told his fellow survivors to clear all of the dead bodies from the prison yard so they could grow crops without zombie corpses rotting into the soil. Entering into Season 4, Rick is now a farmer, planting crops for their new home, which is literally a prison. Rick is learning to farm from Hershel (played by Scott Wilson).

The Walking Dead Season 4: Hershel teaching Rick to farm at the prison

What happened on 'The Walking Dead' last night?

Glad you asked.

Check out the recaps of what happened in Season 4 episodes 1 - 5:

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode 1: 30 Days Without an Accident

In Season 4, Episode 1 you  see an increase of zombies outside of one side of the fence by watchtower 3. What is causing this?
Rick is learning to farm, and growing fond of his little pigs, but the mother pig is very sick. Rick finds a zombie-looking woman in the woods. She is looking for food. She tells him it is for her husband. She says she wants to join his camp. Rick tells her he needs to meet her husband and ask him three questions.
When they get back to her camp, she tries to kill him with the knife he gave her. She ends up stabbing herself to become a zombie. Her husband is already a zombie and his head is in a burlap sack at the camp.

Back at the prison, a boy in the camp named Patrick catches a mysterious illness and dies in the shower, and turns into a zombie.

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode 2: Infected

In Season 4, Episode 2, we see a new danger spring up at the prison. People are catching a deadly flu strain, attributed to a sick pick that caught it from a sick boar in the woods. This is a 24 hr. flu, that kills the person, and then they turn into a zombie super quicklike. It all started with Patrick. At the beginning of the episode, he is roaming inside the prison and bites a man on the throat. Zombies multiply and wreak havoc inside the prison. After the population contains and kills the zombies, they deduce that Patrick caught some form of the swine flu. They wonder who all is infected and tell people to split up. 

Meanwhile, zombies congregate outside the fence by Watchtower 3. They start to bend the fence in. The group see that someone has been feeding them rats. Rick decides to sacrifice his pigs to the zombies so they can get them off of the fence for repairs. Giving up his pigs is symbolic of all of his hard work was for nothing. He gets out his gun belt because he realizes that he has to fight -- not farm.

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode 3: Isolation

In Season 4, Episode 3, the episode starts with Tyreese filled with rage as he discovers that his love interest - Karen - has been burned to death (after turning into a zombie, of course) along with David. Tyreese accuses Rick of not being aggressive enough in finding out who did this. After Tyreese punches Rick in the face, Rick unleashes his fury on Tyreese. Tyreese ends up with an eye swollen shut and Rick has a sprained hand that needs a couple days of healing.

Tyreese takes out the rest of his anger by digging Karen a grave. Rick and Carol discuss fixing the water pump, since it only has about a day's worth of water left. Rick says wait until it runs out, while Carol says to go ahead and do it now. Other people discuss how to stop the spreading virus, which is killing people very rapidly. Four people decide to go: Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese, and Bob. Tyreese takes on a horde of zombies after they abandon the vehicle. Daryl, Michonne, and Bob watch as the zombies encircle him. They leave Tyreese as he fights them off one by one. Surprisingly, Tyreese survives the encounter. They continue on to find the veterinarian hospital and the antibiotics.

Carol decides to fix the water pump all by herself. She makes a contraption to distract the zombies, while she fixes the pump in the stream. The zombies start to come at her. Rick sees this and helps her back into the prison yard. 

Hershel and the children are separated from the rest of the infected people in the prison office. Hershel decides to leave to go to the woods to find herbal remedies to extend the lives of the infected. Carl (Rick's son) makes Hershel take him along or he'll tell his father. Hershel allows Carl to come. They come across two zombies in the woods - one is decaying like a rotten tree and the other is a girl with a bear trap on her leg. Hershel tells Carl he doesn't need to kill them. They leave. Hershel decides to give his remedy to the infected. He starts with the Doctor. The Doctor coughs blood on him, and Hershel takes his mask off. Hershel continues to care for the sick.

Rick finds out at the end of the episode Carol was the person that burned Karen and David after they turned into zombies.

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode 4: Indifference

This was pretty much an episode "on the road." Rick and Carol set off to find goods in a close town, while the band of four (Tyreese, Daryl, Michonne, and Bob) are set to raid an veterinarian clinic of its antibiotics. We learn that Bob has an alcohol problem that has already cost one person their life, and endangered the group at the end of the episode. Daryl basically tells Bob that he will beat him into the ground if he catches him drinking. Rick and Carol find two alive but maimed people in a house named Sam and Ana. They want to prove their worthiness, but are too zealous, while Rick and Carol finish their rounds. They see zombies eating the girl (Ana), and the guy (Sam) never makes it back to the house. Rick wants to wait a few more minutes, while Carol pushes him into leaving, saying "They're not here. Let's leave."

As they head back to the vehicle, Rick says that they let them (Sam and Ana) both die back there. Rick tells Carol that Tyreese will surely kill her for what did to Karen and David. Carol hands her late husband's watch to Rick and drives off. Rick heads back to the prison alone. In the words of Donald Trump, "I'm sorry Carol, but you're fired."

Z. Love's Commentary: Carol's decision-making abilities are starting to be questioned by Rick at the beginning of this episode, which ultimately leads to her separation from the group at the end of episode 4. Carol's recent decision to kill Karen and David because there was a possibility they would turn into zombies really show that Carol is too willing to kill and "play God" rather than let the scenario play out. Perhaps this is an indication that Carol has hardened too much as her character has transformed from a passive person in an abusive marriage to a "take-charge" independence and just a strong woman in general. Now she seems so independant that she does not have any close attachments, which has been called into question, and led to her departure.

'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Episode 5: "Internment"

In this episode, the character Hershel has to get his hands dirty. Two episodes ago, he resigned to pulling off his face mask and caring for the sick. His daughter Maggie is pretty much the only person at the prison, besides the children in the office, that haven't been exposed to the killer 'zombie' flu. Hershel is trying to keep people alive for as long as possible until the small group with antibiotics return. Hershel begins the episode with putting a hand pump down one guy's throat and telling the sick to keep pumping every 5 seconds to get oxygen to his lungs. If they stop, he dies.

Almost everyone in the prison is sick, including the doctor. He is very bad off, and Hershel has taken over the doctor role. He tells Hershel to start closing cell doors just in case someone dies and turns into a zombie. 

Rick goes outside Maggie at the gates trying to fend off zombies all by herself. He is reluctant to tell her that Carol is not coming back, but says it is best she is not there when Tyreese returns.

Rick goes inside to find Hershel stabbing Mr. Jacobs in the head. 

They hear gunshots and Rick tells Maggie to go help. Rick goes to check on his son, Carl, in the prison office. Carl and the kids are fine. Carl and Rick go outside to push back the zombies at the fence. They are putting log posts up against the fence. They start to snap. The fence comes down. Carl and Rick run through the tower to the other side. They have their guns out and make a stand. The zombies are coming, and they are hungry.

Meanwhile, Hershel is inside the prison and gets attacked by a female zombie, and the guy with the pump in his mouth (from earlier in the episode) has turned. A little girl is trying to lure him away from the others. Hershel finally frees himself long enough to toss this zombie over the rail.

The band of survivors with the antibiotics finally return at the end, and the prison returns to a somewhat better state, but there is someone watching from outside the prison gates: The Governor, wearing his eye patch. The episode ends on a note of suspense.

The Walking Dead Season 3 Recap

Glenn Rhee is the asian character in Season 3. He used to be a pizza delivery man. He knows shortcuts and has lived a daredevil type of lifestyle. He falls for Hershel's daughter Maggie, after doing supply runs together. Glenn and Maggie are abducted by Merle and taken to Woodbury. The Governor assaults Maggie, and Glenn is infuriated, bent to get personal revenge on the Governor. Before an assault by the Governor's crew, Glenn asks Hershel for permission to marry his daughter, Maggie. Hershel consents. Glenn cuts a ring off of a zombie, and proposes to Maggie in Season 3.

The Governor is the (alive) bad guy throughout Season 3. He says one thing, but is usually covering up something much worse. He finds Michonne and Andrea at a helicopter crash site. They witness his crew as they jack the heads of the dead helicopter crew. There was one survivor inside the helicopter. The Governor pretends like he is saving him, but really they getting information from him about the rest of his army batallion. The Governor uses this information to later meet the soldiers, and kill all of them, taking their equipment. The Governor sanctions experiments in a secret lab on zombies in hopes that he can cure his daughter Penny, now a zombie.

The Governor also has a gladiator arena, where he has zombies fight humans. Andrea denounces the gladiator fights as barbaric. The Governor rationalizes the practice as "shining a light on the monster under the bed." Viewer see that as Season 3 continues, the Governor grows with bloodlust, hungry for death.

The Governor captures Daryl in the rescue of Glenn and Maggie from Woodbury. The Governor calls Merle a traitor, forcing them to fight to the death. Rick and his gang come to the rescue in the nick of time, allowing Merle and brother Daryl to escape. Merle Dixon goes back with Daryl to the prison, after being in Woodbury under the rule of the Governor as the second in command for some time. Merle stays distanced from everyone at the prison. He learns of an offer from the Governor to spare everyone under Rick, as long as Michonne is captured and brought to him. Merle kidnaps Michonne and escorts her back to Woodbury. Along the trip back, she appeals to his conscious, and he frees her. Merle attracts a horde of zombies and leads them to the Governor's hideout. The Governor shoots Merle in the chest. Daryl discovers his zombie brother and tearfully kills him.

Back at the prison, Carol advises Andrea to gain the Governor's trust (as his lover) and then to end his tyranny rule of Woodbury by killing him. Andrea feels the need to save everyone but ultimately saves no one. She attempts to broker a peace treaty between the Governor and Rick. The Governor is just pretending to gain their trust, but really plans to kill them all. Andrea eventually learns that the Governor is a cruel and twisted man. The Governor leaves a dying Milton in his torture chamber with Andrea, after she attempts to warn Rick. Andrea dies in Season 3, killing herself with Rick's gun, while Michonne is at her side.

Meanwhile, the Governor leads his crew against Rick's. Rick's band of survivors fend off the Governor's band of men, and they retreat. The Governor is left with only two devoted men at this point - Martinez and Shumpert.

Show Fact:

The Walking Dead Season 3 had an average of 12 million viewers, and this cable channel viewing population is scaring broadcast networks, as it is beats shows like American Idol and Law and Order: SVU.