We (as a race) are taking one of the biggest leaps toward deeper space exploration, and it will all be happening today as SpaceX readies the first launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket (and you can watch it below, live). If this launch is successful, SpaceX will have a proven method of sending a worthy payload into space, which will eventually be their ride for getting a team to Mars in the future (and of course the options are open beyond that, as new plans develop).
This round won’t involve any humans on board, but it will take a test payload and send it into an elliptical orbit around the sun, where it will eventually pass mars, and possibly even crash into it. The mentioned test payload includes Tesla’s new Roadster model, equipped with cameras to show of the sights throughout the trip, and it will be playing David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ via it’s radio on repeat, as it flies around.
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A very odd payload and mission plan, but all of it was threaded together by SpaceX’s own founder, Elon Musk. Elon hopes to show his new rocket can take us to the moon and beyond, allowing us to explore other reaches of our solar system, which of course will hopefully include Mars in the near future. Since this is the first test launch of the Falcon Heavy, just about anything can go wrong, but of course the world will be crossing their fingers that nothing will.
Falcon Heavy consists of three Falcon 9 rockets, tripling the thrust capabilities, and will be one of the heaviest lift offs we have ever seen. It can carry a payload of up to 140,700 lbs, and open the doors to so many possibilities. Especially, if they successfully recover all three of the boosters. This is something they have been doing repeatedly with the Falcon 9 launches, allowing them to reuse boosters for future missions, helping to lower the cost of each launch. This will be the first time they have recovered multiple boosters in a single launch.
So let’s watch it live! It will be taking place today at 3:45 p.m. Eastern time (12:45 p.m. Pacific) from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida–and here is the live broadcast:
Update: Time has been pushed to 3:45 p.m. EST. (12:45 p.m. PST)
Update: SpaceX had a successful launch with confirmed touchdown of two of the three booster. The third booster (unconfirmed) to land on a drone ship in the water lost feed and was not confirmed before SpaceX ended the stream. Congratulations SpaceX!
further….
Upper stage restart nominal, apogee raised to 7000 km. Will spend 5 hours getting zapped in Van Allen belts & then attempt final burn for Mars.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018
View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018
#FalconHeavy Center Core confirmed to have missed its landing sadly, crashing into the ocean instead. Confirmed by @SpaceX at 300 MPH at contact, thus there won't be any recovery there. Regardless, history has been made on this day.
— Poc Network // Tech (@PocNetworkNews) February 7, 2018
