Yay, Elon Musk! Falcon Heavy: Elon Musk’s giant SpaceX rocket makes triumphant launch.
He took a huge risk — he thought there was only a 50-50 chance it would work, but he still had fun with it:
Elon Musk and SpaceX could have tested the Falcon Heavy rocket’s ability to launch heavy objects into space the traditional way: by loading it with massive blocks of concrete or steel.
But instead, Musk launched his own midnight-cherry-red Tesla Roadster on Falcon Heavy, which successfully lifted off from its launchpad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday afternoon.
A prettier payload than blocks of concrete or steel, the car is helmed by “Starman,” a dummy wearing the stylish yet functional SpaceX spacesuit.
“Silly, fun things are important,” Musk said of his payload choice during a press conference after Tuesday’s launch. “The imagery of it is something that’s going to get people excited around the world, and it’s still tripping me out.”
—The Tesla Roadster that SpaceX launched to Mars orbit is equipped with cameras — and Elon Musk has promised epic views
how amazing…not sure I would want to travel “out there” – many would of course, I’d be happy with photos of 🙂
I’m happy with photos and videos too. I do think it’s exciting, and I think it was brilliant of him not just to achieve it, but to put his car and Starman in it to connect with people all over the world.
It’s uplifting, especially compared to Trump’s decision to spend millions on a military parade even more spectacular than the one France had.
It was very “cool” (quotation marks because its not a word I would ordinarily use)—I know a number of people were transfixed by this (they said so on Facebook and on Twitter), but I wasn’t into it, to tell the truth. There are so many marvels to oooh and ahhh about in the tech field, that I confine myself to the innovations that benefit the planet, and the people on it!
Musk is doing that too, of course. One of the most magical hours of my life was arriving in Chicago at 5 am last September and Kaitlin driving us to our motel in their Tesla.
One reason they bought it is because they believe in what Musk is doing.
may come in handy if they can figure out how to evacuate this planet.
of course going from one garbaged world to space through the garbage field we’ve left behind might prove daunting!
like Cathy… I wouldn’t want to go.
I did watch the launch though.
and what was so incredible was the boosters that softly landed right back on target. amazing! hope NASA was watching!
There are too many of us to evacuate, but the idea is at least we won’t wipe all of us out if we do manage to make earth uninhabitable for humans.
I agree with you about two of the booster rockets landing back down together, and about setting a high bar for NASA. 🙂
PS The Guardian says,
Musk is a remarkable man. I applaud him.
Me too! He may eventually fail, but at least he’s giving it his best shot. And if he doesn’t fail, wow!
On the other hand, there is a price to be paid too; https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/07/tesla-quarterly-loss-elon-musk-spacex?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=263329&subid=1405434&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
No one has accused him of being greedy. 🙂
I admire Musk. He is an innovative genius, I just re-read my comment, above, and it reads like a criticism—not intended! I’m just a little burnt out with trying to keep up with all of the hundred and one tech innovations springing up daily!
I don’t try to keep up with them all, sooner or later the most important ones will become clear. It’s refreshing to know there are more important things than the pettiness coming out of Washington. Although the U.S. rushing toward bankruptcy may affect we Americans sooner than we would like.