Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Elon Musk Releases New ‘Falcon Heavy sends a car to Mars’ Animation - Set to ‘Starman’ on Eve of Maiden Launch

Starman in a Red Roadster buckled up is the payload housed in the nosecone for the first test flight of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy targeting blastoff on Feb 6, 2018. Credit: SpaceX

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   5 Feb 2018



KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – On the eve on the maiden launch of the triple barreled SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, CEO and founder Elon Musk released the long awaited updated launch animation showing the liftoff, recovery of all three first stage cores and how the Heavy will send a car to Mars


The triple core rocket will lift off from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early afternoon during a launch window that opens at 1:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 6.

Musk’s ‘modified’ cherry red Tesla Roaster sports car is the payload on this first demonstration test flight of  the Falcon Heavy.  It will be hurled outward from earth on a whimsical trip to Mars on a heliocentric orbit.  It will be playing David Bowie’s hit song ‘Space Oddity.’



A dummy astronaut nicknamed ‘Starman in a Red Roadster’ by Musk is wearing a SpaceX Crew Dragon astronaut spacesuit, and buckled up sitting in the driver’s seat for the long journey to Mars. Starman is another Bowie hit song.



The launch video is set to the tune of ‘Life on Mars’ – another David Bowie hit song likewise loved by space enthusiasts.







Video Caption from Elon Musk/SpaceX:



Falcon Heavy sends a car to Mars



When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)---a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel--Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.



Falcon Heavy's first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.



Following liftoff, the two side boosters separate from the center core and return to landing sites for future reuse. The center core, traveling further and faster than the side boosters, also returns for reuse, but lands on a drone ship located in the Atlantic Ocean.



At max velocity the Roadster will travel 11 km/s (7mi/s) and travel 400 million km (250 million mi) from Earth.








Read our detailed prelaunch and launch stories. 


Up close view of SpaceX Falcon Heavy center booster nose cone loaded with Elon Musk’s Tesla, side booster nose cones and grid fins. Debut liftoff slated for Feb. 6, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com




Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9, ULA and NASA and space mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com



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Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Learn more about the upcoming SpaceX Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 SES-16/GovSat-1 launches on Jan. 30 & Feb. 6, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL:

Feb 6/7: “SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, ULA Atlas USAF SBIRS GEO 4 missile warning satellite, SpaceX GovSat-1, CRS-14 resupply launches to the ISS, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, GOES-S weather satellite launch, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale

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