The launch of this turbocharged version of the workhorse Falcon 9 rocket, which has been carrying cargo to space for years, marks an important milestone in spaceflight, the first time a rocket this powerful has been sent into space by a private company rather than a government space agency.
The rocket carried a playful payload: Mr. Musk’s red Roadster, an electric sports car built by his other company, Tesla. Strapped inside the car is a mannequin wearing one of SpaceX’s spacesuits. They are expected to orbit the sun for hundreds of millions of years.
“It’s kind of silly and fun, but silly and fun things are important,” Mr. Musk said.
This happened Tuesday. Maybe some of you saw it. Here's the video:
In an interview after the launch, Elon mentioned that he is excited about a potential new era of a space race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxVNYdVBgpY. This comes as no surprise as when one considers that he is the only one with a car up there :)
ReplyDeleteToday I read an article about how a nature photographer working on a nighttime landscape project caught the last of the rocket's fumes after the third burn of the rocket's engines. I think this raises a question too of what this amount of fuel can do to our environment, or what alternatives Musk will come up with similar to those of his famous Tesla. I would have to agree with Andras above - a new era seems to be upon us that we never thought we may be a part of!
ReplyDeleteHere's the article if you want to read more!
https://petapixel.com/2018/02/17/photographer-accidentally-captures-spacex-falcon-heavy-exhaust-plume/
I heard on NPR the other day about the next rocket namely BFR (Big F***ing Rocket). It is actually a spaceship that can carry 300+ people for a trip to Marc, lands vertically, and takes off one day to come back to Earth.
ReplyDeleteSide note about living on Mars, a self-sustain colony would need about 1 million people.
More info on the BFR and the Mars mission here: http://www.spacex.com/mars