Tesla founder Elon Musk has released a stunning new animation revealing how he will fire his car toward Mars today aboard the world’s most powerful rocket.
The billionaire, who is CEO of private rocket company SpaceX, said the firm’s Falcon Heavy spacecraft will carry his 2008 cherry red Tesla Roadster on a billion-year journey through space ‘if it doesn’t explode into tiny pieces’.
A video posted to Musk’s Instagram account shows how the huge rocket, with a thrust equivalent to more than 18,700 jetliners, will liftoff from its launchpad in Florida at 1:30pm ET (6:30pm GMT) today.
The craft’s three reusable cores will separate from the main module, containing Musk’s car, after launch and return to Earth, the animation shows.
Once beyond Earth’s orbit, the main module will break apart, leaving the roadster and its passenger, a mannequin Musk has named ‘Star Man’, to travel alone on a 250 million mile (400m km) journey into deep space.
Musk assured spectators that cameras on the vehicle will provide ‘epic views’ as it travels to Mars.
In yesterday’s Instagram post, Musk wrote: ‘Falcon Heavy launches to Mars orbit tomorrow.
‘If it doesn’t explode into tiny pieces, it will carry Starman in Roadster over 400 million km from Earth at 11 km/sec on a billion year journey through deep space.’
Musk has also said David Bowie’s 1969 hit ‘Space Oddity’ would play in the vehicle during the launch.
SpaceX has spent weeks preparing for the first test launch of its Falcon Heavy, which aims to become the world’s most powerful rocket in operation, with the capacity to one day take payloads to the moon or Mars.
The launch, scheduled for 1:30pm ET (6:30pm GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is the most ambitious yet for SpaceX.
It has been hailed by industry experts as a game-changer because of its potential to propel the California-based company to the very forefront of the modern day space race.
Tesla founder Elon Musk has released a new animation revealing how he will fire his car toward Mars today aboard the world’s most powerful rocket. The car has already been fitted into the huge rocket’s main module (pictured)
The billionaire, who is CEO of private rocket company SpaceX, said the firm’s Falcon Heavy spacecraft will carry his 2008 cherry red Tesla Roadster on a billion-year journey through space ‘if it doesn’t explode into tiny pieces’. Pictured is an artist’s impression of the car strapped into the rocket’s main module before launch later today
A video posted to Musk’s Instagram account shows how the huge rocket, with a thrust equivalent to more than 18,700 jetliners, will liftoff from its launchpad in Florida at 1:30pm ET (6:30pm GMT) today
Once the Falcon Heavy enters space, two of the 70-metre- (230-foot) long craft’s booster rockets will separate off (left and right) and return to Earth, with the central core and main module (centre) continuing into space
‘Nasa may decide to use [the Falcon Heavy] as a way of fast-tracking its plans to get to the Moon and Mars,’ Dr Erik Seedhouse, assistant professor of applied aviation sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.
Tuesday’s launch is a ‘huge deal, even for a spaceflight company that routinely accomplishes huge deals,’ said Jason Davis of the Planetary Society, describing the Falcon Heavy as ‘mythical’.
But the launch, which is set to be livestreamed on SpaceX’s YouTube channel, is high-risk.
According to Musk, there is a ‘real good chance that the vehicle does not make it.’
Once the Falcon Heavy enters space, two of the 70-metre- (230-foot) long craft’s booster rockets will separate off and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings (pictured)
The rocket’s central core (left) will then detach from the main module (right) and begin its own controlled descent back to Earth. The main module, the Falcon Heavy’s only non-reusable part, will continue on into deep space
After the rocket’s central core has detached from the main module, it will begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on the firm’s ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ drone ship in the Pacific Ocean (pictured)
Once beyond Earth’s orbit, the main module will break apart, leaving the roadster and its passenger, a mannequin Musk has named ‘Star Man’, to travel alone on a 250 million mile (400m km) journey into deep space. The final scene of the animation shows the Tesla and its passenger arriving at the red planet (right)
WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING SPACEX’S FALCON HEAVY LAUNCH?
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon Heavy will lift off and enter Earth’s orbit on February 6 from from launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The rocket will use 27 engines and three separate re-usable cores in what is set to be one of the firm’s most technically complex challenges to date.
Once the Falcon Heavy enters space, two of the 70-metre- (230-foot) long craft’s booster rockets will separate off and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings.
The rocket will use 27 engines and three separate re-usable cores in what is set to be one of the firm’s most technically complex challenges to date. This image shows an artist’s impression of the rocket’s engine and core layout as viewed from below
The rocket’s central core will then detach from the main module and begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on the firm’s ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.
The main module will continue its trajectory into deep space, with a destination set for the orbit of Mars 140 million miles (225 million kilometres) away.
According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk: ‘Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.’
Musk has said his original cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster will be strapped into the main module, playing David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ from its speakers.
In a post to Instagram on Monday morning, the billionaire shared a picture of his electric sports car strapped into the rocket, with a mannequin wearing a spacesuit sat in the driver’s seat.
Alongside the picture he wrote ‘Starman in Red Roadster’, a reference to the firm’s plan to play David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ from the car’s speakers during launch.
Musk also tweeted: ‘Falcon Heavy remains go for launch at 1:30pm on Tuesday. Florida time.’
The Falcon Heavy won’t surpass NASA’s Saturn V moon rocket, still all-time king of the launch circuit. It won’t even approach the liftoff might of NASA’s space shuttles.
The launch, scheduled for 1:30pm ET (6:30pm GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is the most ambitious yet for SpaceX. Musk confirmed on Twitter yesterday that ‘all systems remain green’ for launch
SpaceX is set to launch the world’s most powerful rocket for the first time today. Pictured is the ‘Falcon Heavy’ spacecraft at its launchpad in Florida
But when it departs on its first test flight, the Heavy with its two boosters and 27 engines will be the most powerful working rocket out there today, by a factor of two.
‘I can’t wait to see it fly and to see it fly again and again,’ said the Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern.
He’s the lead scientist for Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft which made an unprecedented flyby of Pluto and is now headed to an even smaller, icy world on the fringes of the solar system.
Cape Canaveral hasn’t seen this kind of rocket mania since the last space shuttle flight in 2011.
Tesla CEO Musk, 46, has confirmed that the vehicle’s main module will carry his 2008 cherry red Tesla Roadster on a journey to Mars. In a post to Instagram on Monday morning, the billionaire shared a picture of the car strapped into the rocket, with a mannequin wearing a spacesuit sat in the driver’s seat
Huge crowds are expected for the afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center. Visitor center tickets for the best up-close viewing, called ‘Feel the Heat’ and ‘Closest Package’, sold out quickly.
‘When you’re talking about what would be the biggest and largest operational launch vehicle in the world, that adds another dimension of excitement,’ said Phil Larson, an assistant dean at the University of Colorado at Boulder, who used to work for SpaceX and the Obama administration.
The Heavy is capable of delivering, in one fell swoop, 140,660 pounds (63,800 kilograms) of cargo to low-Earth orbit, nearly 60,000 pounds (26,700 kilograms) to high-Earth orbit, 37,000 pounds (16,800 kilograms) to Mars, or 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms) to Pluto.
On Monday morning, Musk wrote on Twitter: ‘Falcon Heavy remains go for launch at 1:30pm on Tuesday. Florida time.’ The post suggests Musk will be present at today’s test at launchpad 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre – the same pad used by Nasa to launch its historic Apollo 11 moon mission
The 70-metre- (230-foot) long rocket is the first of its kind, powered by 27 engines and sporting three reusable cores that will separate from the main module after launch and return to Earth. Pictured is the craft during a static fire test last month
Today’s test will mark the first time SpaceX has flown its new, high-capacity rocket, which will allow the firm to send far higher payloads into orbit than the average launch.
It follows months of delays and setbacks, with the company targeting an unprecedented level of reusability as part of its long-term plan to make commercial rocket flights cheaper.
SpaceX had previously said it planned to launch the Falcon Heavy a week after the rocket’s first successful static test fire, which took place on January 24 after it was delayed by last month’s US government shutdown.
Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla, has confirmed the rocket will carry his 2008 cherry red Tesla Roadster (pictured in the spacecraft’s main module) on a journey to Mars
The test marked the first time the huge rocket roared to life, with all 27 of its Merlin engines fired up simultaneously at launchpad 39A.
As well as creating huge, billowing clouds of white smoke, the test fired off monstrous booms that could be heard up to three miles away.
‘Falcon Heavy hold-down firing this morning was good. Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching in a week or so,’ Musk tweeted on January 24.
If all goes according to plan today, the Falcon Heavy will lift off and enter Earth’s orbit, at which point two of the craft’s booster rockets will separate off and return to Earth at Cape Canaveral in controlled landings.
The 70-metre- (230-foot) long rocket’s central core will then detach from the main module and begin its own controlled descent back to Earth, landing on the firm’s ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.
The main module will continue its trajectory into ‘deep space’, the billionaire has said, with a destination set for the orbit of Mars 140 million miles (225 million kilometres) away.
According to Musk: ‘Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.’
After months of delays, Musk tweeted a new target launch date for the rocket last month. He added that a nearby causeway will provide the public with clear views of the flight
On January 24, SpaceX completed a long-awaited static fire test of its Falcon Heavy megarocket (pictured). Musk’s rocket company performed the test at Kennedy Space Centre’s launch pad 39A. The test had been delayed for several months
HOW DOES THE FALCON HEAVY MEASURE UP?
Height: 70 meters (229.6 feet)
Stages: Two
Boosters: Two
Re-usable Cores: Three
Engines: 27
Payload to Low Earth Orbit: 63,800kg (140,660 lb)
Payload to Mars: 16,800kg (37,040 lb)
Total width: 12.2m (39.9 ft)
Mass: 1,420,788kg (3,125,735 lb)
Total thrust at lift-off: 22,819 kilonewtons (5.13 million pounds)
When it launches, the Falcon Heavy (left) will be the world’s most powerful rocket, capable of carrying payloads far greater than even the Apollo 11 space shuttle (second from left)
The launch follows months of delays and build-up to the historic flight, with Musk frequently posting updates across his social media profiles.
On January 5, the billionaire wrote on Instagram: ‘Falcon Heavy now vertical on the former Apollo 11 moon rocket launchpad.
‘At 2,500 tons of thrust, equal to 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full throttle, it will be the most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two. Excitement on launch day guaranteed, one way or another.
‘Hold-down test fire next week. Launch end of the month.’
The 46-year-old South African, who co-founded PayPal with venture capitalist Peter Thiel, predicts the Falcon Heavy’s payload will stay in deep space for a while.
Musk has said the huge launch vehicle will blast off on an unmanned mission with a unique payload – the billionaire’s cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster, which will be fired toward Mars. Pictured is the car strapped into the Falcon Heavy’s main module
A photo of its unusual cargo – Musk’s cherry red 2008 Tesla Roadster – was released last month.
Images released by SpaceX show an original Roadster perched on a large cone inside the Falcon Heavy on what appears to be a secure mount to keep it stationary as the rocket makes its maiden flight.
‘Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks. That seemed extremely boring,’ Musk said in December.
‘Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel.
‘The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing Space Oddity, on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit.’
The mission marks SpaceX’s most ambitious project to date.
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, with the aim of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonisation of Mars.
In a Washington, D.C., speech last July the Tesla founder said Falcon Heavy is one of the most difficult and technically complex projects SpaceX has ever undertaken.
‘There’s a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy,’ he said during the 2017 International Space Station Research and Development Conference.
‘Real good chance that the vehicle doesn’t make it to orbit. I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly.’
Musk has spent the proceeding months building up hype for the historic launch with a series of social media posts.
Last month he posted an image to Twitter of people stoof next to a landed Falcon Heavy rocket to give an idea of the vehicle’s scale.
He tweeted: ‘Falcon Heavy launching from same @NASA pad as the Saturn V Apollo 11 moon rocket.
‘It was 50% higher thrust with five F-1 engines at 7.5M lb-F.
In a Washington, D.C., speech last July the Tesla founder said Falcon Heavy is one of the most difficult and technically complex projects SpaceX has ever undertaken. Pictured is the rocket in a warehouse last year before it was erected at the Kennedy Space Centre earlier this month
‘I love that rocket so much.’
He also confirmed the rocket will have a ‘max thrust at lift-off is 5.1 million pounds or 2300 metric tons,’ adding the first mission will run at 92 per cent capacity.
‘Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape.
‘Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another,’ Musk originally posted.