![]() If the Falcon Heavy does succeed, it will serve as a potent symbol for private enterprise's rush into space-which SpaceX has shaken up by emphasizing reusability. “I'm sure we've done everything we could do to maximize the chance of success of this mission.” Reduce, Reuse “What's strange about this flight is that normally, I feel super stressed-out the day before. These unsettling scenarios are enough to give the launch what Musk has called a “major pucker factor.” But in a press briefing on Monday, Musk seemed at peace. Will the rocket's upper stage be able to survive the beating and re-fire? Before sending the car on its way toward Mars, the rocket's upper stage must spend six grueling hours floating through the Van Allen belt, where Earth's magnetic field traps high-energy radiation flung off the sun. It's also possible that the Tesla Roadster won't leave our immediate neighborhood. Overlapping shock waves could then deal the rocket fatal damage. Once the rocket reaches the speed of sound, the trio of boosters may shake one another unexpectedly. ![]() Other, less explosive routes to failure exist. “People say that NASA takes no risks anymore they specifically took this one.” This mayhem would also derail SpaceX's long-delayed plan to ferry NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.Ī launchpad explosion “would not only destroy a piece of heritage, but set back human spaceflight for a long time,” says Logsdon. If the rocket were to explode on launchpad 39A, the conflagration not only would destroy the Falcon Heavy, but also the pad that sent off the Saturn V and NASA's space shuttle fleet. Watch the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Test Flight LiveĪ lot can go wrong, as SpaceX CEO and flamethrower tycoon Elon Musk has emphasized leading up to the launch. You can tune in to this SpaceX livestream to see events unfold. If necessary, the launch may move to February 7 or later. The window for attempting the launch opens up at 1:30 p.m. “It will be the most significant test flight since 1967, which was the first test of Saturn V,” says John Logsdon, a space-policy expert at George Washington University. ![]() ( See rare views of the moon captured by Apollo astronauts.) Only the Saturn V, the workhorse of the Apollo moon missions, has lifted more mass into orbit. If successful, the Falcon Heavy will become the most powerful rocket in the world by a factor of two, capable of launching more than 140,000 pounds of cargo-and one day perhaps passengers-into low-Earth orbit. Through it all, three cameras aboard the Tesla will hopefully capture the scene. ![]() If all goes well on Tuesday afternoon, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket will soar into space in a most peculiar way-carrying a cherry-red Tesla Roadster blaring David Bowie.Īfter a six-hour coast, the Tesla would then head into what's known as a Hohmann transfer orbit around the sun-arcing between the paths of Earth and Mars for potentially millions of years. ![]() ET.Ĭocoa Beach, FloridaMore than 50 years after the Saturn V rocket sent humans to the moon, launchpad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center may once again become a backdrop to history. UPDATE: The February 6 launch attempt is now slated for 3:45 p.m. ![]()
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