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Elon Musk is putting his personal Tesla into Mars’ orbit
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, its most powerful reusable rocket to date, is all set to have a spectacular first launch that will include Elon Musk’s very own Tesla.
Following reports that time was up for the launch in 2017 — it had originally been schedule for November — SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that it will take place in January and, in true Musk style, there is more.
Musk revealed that the payload inside the rocket will be his own Tesla Roadster (in midnight cherry color, no less) which will launch while playing Space Oddity by David Bowie.
The planned destination is Mars and, all being well, Musk said his personal vehicle will be in the planet’s orbit for “a billion years.”
Musk’s tweets appears in line with reports from earlier this week that the Falcon Heavy launch will take place in early 2018.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told Aviation Week that the company is planning a static test fire of its Falcon Heavy rocket, with all 27 Merlin engines used simultaneously, before the end of 2017. Should that proceed without any major issues, the full launch would happen weeks later.
Timing is tight, but Elon Musk is Elon Musk. It’s sure to be a fantastic spectacle.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, its most powerful reusable rocket to date, is all set to have a spectacular first launch that will include Elon Musk’s very own Tesla.
Following reports that time was up for the launch in 2017 — it had originally been schedule for November — SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that it will take place in January and, in true Musk style, there is more.
Musk revealed that the payload inside the rocket will be his own Tesla Roadster (in midnight cherry color, no less) which will launch while playing Space Oddity by David Bowie.
The planned destination is Mars and, all being well, Musk said his personal vehicle will be in the planet’s orbit for “a billion years.”
Musk’s tweets appears in line with reports from earlier this week that the Falcon Heavy launch will take place in early 2018.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told Aviation Week that the company is planning a static test fire of its Falcon Heavy rocket, with all 27 Merlin engines used simultaneously, before the end of 2017. Should that proceed without any major issues, the full launch would happen weeks later.
Timing is tight, but Elon Musk is Elon Musk. It’s sure to be a fantastic spectacle.
Musk has spoken openly about the non-zero chance that the Falcon Heavy will explode during its first flight, and because of that he once said he wanted stick the “silliest thing we can imagine” on top of the rocket. Now we know what he meant. It’s unclear at the time of publish whether SpaceX has received any necessary approvals for this plan.
SpaceX also ultimately plans to be able to recover all three rocket cores that power the Falcon Heavy, just like it’s done over the last year with main rocket booster stage of its Falcon 9s. It’s unclear if the company will attempt to recover the boosters of this maiden rocket.
Of course, Musk also said earlier this fall at the International Astronautical Congress that he plans to pour all of SpaceX’s resources into an even bigger rocket architecture, known as the Interplanetary Transport System (or Big Fucking Rocket, for short).
That new mega-rocket, when built, would essentially obsolesce the Falcon Heavy and the Falcon 9. It will be capable of taking on the same duties that those rockets perform, while adding new capabilities that range from planting a colony on Mars to making 30-minute transcontinental travel possible on Earth.
In that light, maybe shooting a Tesla into orbit around the Red Planet doesn’t seem so outlandish.
Of course, Musk also said earlier this fall at the International Astronautical Congress that he plans to pour all of SpaceX’s resources into an even bigger rocket architecture, known as the Interplanetary Transport System (or Big Fucking Rocket, for short).
That new mega-rocket, when built, would essentially obsolesce the Falcon Heavy and the Falcon 9. It will be capable of taking on the same duties that those rockets perform, while adding new capabilities that range from planting a colony on Mars to making 30-minute transcontinental travel possible on Earth.
In that light, maybe shooting a Tesla into orbit around the Red Planet doesn’t seem so outlandish.
I know it's fun to talk shit about Musk - especially the finances of his companies - but some of the stuff his companies do (mostly Space X) are still really impressive. If a Tesla actually ends up in Mars' orbit that will be fucking epic and no amount of shit talking from anyone on this planet will ever undo it. All the other bullshit aside, I really hope this happens.
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