Musk driving the Mars story
No rest stop until Mars. Elon Musk — the tech titan with science fiction flair — watched his SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket blast off into space yesterday with his convertible Tesla Roadster along for a ride approaching the Red Planet.
“It was a publicity stunt,” said renowned Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan C. McDowell. “The important thing is it showed this rocket works.
“He wanted to put something on it that was not precious — in case it blew up — so he used his old car,” McDowell told the Herald. “It demonstrates his rocket can launch something heavy into space.”
A satellite, for starters, and paying customers, maybe later.
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on the same launch pad used by NASA nearly 50 years ago to send men to the moon.
Later, SpaceX showed video footage of its “Starman” — a mannequin dressed in a Tesla spacesuit — who was behind the wheel of Musk’s Roadster.
“Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth,” Musk tweeted as he shared a video of the flight. It was a space odyssey that had millions following along.
“Will spend 5 hours getting zapped in Van Allen belts & then attempt final burn for Mars,” he added of Starman’s journey.
Yes, David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” was playing in the background.
It was Heavy’s inaugural flight and it burned with success.
The huge rocket unites three Falcon 9s, the rocket SpaceX uses to ship supplies to the International Space Station and launch satellites.
And, in another first, the Roadster joins moon buggies as the first vehicles sent on a cosmic road trip.