Elon Musk’ Space X executed a successful test flight of its Falcon Heavy with a special payload inside. Falcon Heavy launch. (via Space X)
Space X, the space exploration company founded by Elon Musk succeeded in launching its Falcon Heavy rocket with Mars as the final destination for its payload (it’ll miss Mars, by the way). Counting about 6,000 employees across the country, Space X can be proud of being such a great example of determination and focus. The flight which Musk feared might not succeed, was impressive in many aspects: the rocket used for the flight, the recovery process, the payload of the flight, the place of the launch, etc.
The rocket Space X used for the test launch is the Falcon Heavy, a 23-story rocket built with 3 Falcon 9, each powered by 9 engines. With that many engines, Musk joked that the rocket doesn’t even need gravity to land. Designed to carry 141,000 pounds of payload, the Falcon Heavy is one of a kind also because all three Falcon 9 can be recovered and reused. Initially, Space X planned the landing pads for each of them, but only two rockets were successfully recovered. During, the recovery process, a couple of engines on the third booster didn’t function, leading to crash of the booster in the ocean.
Launched from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same pad used to launch the first spaceflight carrying humans to the moon, Falcon Heavy was carrying Elon Musk’s own Tesla Roadster. At the wheel of the car was seated Starman, a robot- astronaut. The Roadster was aimed at Mars, but due to excessive gas consumption changed course. Musk revealed recently that the sport car may wander in deep space for about a month before it settles in the asteroids belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Despite the change of course of the payload and the failed recovery of the third rocket, Musk views the test flight as a success. According to the founder of Space X, Falcon Heavy’s flight is a beacon of hope for other countries and companies that wish to get involved in the race for space. Musk is also confident that Space X is ready to conduct commercial space exploration.
Elon Musk is obviously a very focused man who has been not only speaking of his dream about space and its potential for quite some time but also accomplishing them step by step. His attempt at putting his own car on Mars could be interpreted as his desire to plant his own “flag” on the red planet. Maybe he is narcissistic, but the successful flight of the Falcon Heavy might inspire his rivals like Bezos’ Blue Origin to hurry up and differentiate themselves. All that competition promises to bring to the world more than Late President Kennedy had ever dreamed of when it comes to the American presence in space.
Now, here is a live steam of the "Starman" in the Musk's Tesla Raodster with Earth in the background.
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