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Space X pulls off successful test flight of world’s most powerful rocket

ELON Musk faced a historic test this morning that could have gone down in flames. Instead he pulled off a stunning success.

Nick WhighamNick Whigham
@NWWHIGHAM
3 min read
February 7, 2018 - 7:35AM
SpaceX launches the Falcon Heavy rocket

ELON Musk faced one of his biggest tests yet today, and he passed with flying colours.

This morning his rocket company SpaceX launched its monster rocket, the Falcon Heavy on a historical test flight, launching a Tesla roadster into orbit around the sun.

Cameras on board the car beamed back live images of the vehicle as the rocket fell away and the car began a journey that will take it to the edge of Mars.

The rocket is the most powerful in operation today by a factor of two and is designed to one day take supplies to the Moon or even Mars. The last time we launched a rocket this powerful was for the Apollo missions.

Musk himself put the likelihood of success at 50/50, admitting there was every chance the rocket could instantly explode in to a ball of flames at takeoff.

“It is guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another,” the 46-year-old space visionary and wealthy businessman told reporters on the eve of the launch.

“I would consider it a win if it just clears the pad and doesn’t blow the pad to smithereens,” he added.

But at 7:45am this morning AEDT the rocket took off from its Florida launch pad to rousing applause from the thousands jammed on surrounding beaches, bridges and roads to watch the launch.

“The vehicle is now supersonic,” said a voice over the radio broadcast as it blasted into space.

About three minutes into flight the side boosters separated from the Falcon Heavy, marking a major moment for the successful flight and prompting more cheers from engineers on the ground.

Two of the boosters were recycled and programmed to return for a simultaneous touchdown in the launch site while the third, brand new, set its sights on an ocean platform some 480 kilometres offshore.

After reaching orbit, the rocket then returned and landed back on Earth completing a near flawless launch.

SpaceX commentator John Innsbrucker said it was “everything you could want in a test flight.”

Incredible photos from SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch
Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX, speaks at a news conference after the Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
VIEW GALLERY

The SpaceX and Tesla boss wants to help make humans an interplanetary species by colonising Mars and rockets like Falcon Heavy — which currently cost about $114 million per launch — are going to play a crucial part in that journey.

As a tongue in cheek way to illustrate the point (and to help mimic a certain payload), on board the Falcon Heavy was Musk’s very own Tesla roadster with a mannequin dressed in Space X’s custom made spacesuit behind the wheel.

After the successful launch and provided the vehicle continues to survive the journey, SpaceX is targeting a long, oval orbit around the sun that will take the car as far out as Mars and have it making laps for a billion years.

SpaceX’s webcast showed the Tesla roadster soaring into space, as David Bowie’s Space Oddity played in the background

It’s not everyday we get to watch a billionaire use a giant rocket to shoot his expensive electric car into orbit, but today was special.

From on board cameras, the words “DON’T PANIC” could be seen on the dashboard of the vehicle as it floated in space, an apparent nod to the science fiction series the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Musk's Tesla car next to the fairing of a Falcon Heavy rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Musk's Tesla car next to the fairing of a Falcon Heavy rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Falcon Heavy is essentially three smaller Falcon 9 rockets (which Space X has been vigorously testing over recent years) strapped together. As a result, the Falcon Heavy boasts a total of 27 engines.

The 70-metre tall rocket is designed to carry nearly 64 metric tonnes into orbit which is more than the mass of a fully loaded 737 jetliner.

It was initially designed to restore the possibility of sending humans to the Moon or Mars, but those plans have shifted and now the Falcon Heavy is being considered mainly as a potential equipment carrier to these deep space destinations, Musk said this week.

THE WORLD REACTS

Fans, journalists and scientists reacted to this morning’s successful launch with excitement. Some said it was the coolest thing they had ever seen while plenty of others admitted to shedding a tear or two.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE FALCON HEAVY?

The beauty of building reusable rockets is you can put them straight back to work.

The Falcon Heavy has some more flights scheduled and is booked to send up a large communications satellite for Saudi Arabian company Arabsat sometime in the first half of 2018.

The SpaceX rocket is also scheduled to launch a test payload for the US Air Force sometime after June. That particular launch will allow the Air Force to judge whether or not the Falcon Heavy is ready to fly national security payloads, which could become a big market for Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Falcon Heavy is also expected to launch two more hefty satellites in the near future for British communications company Inmarsat and US company ViaSat.

Originally published as Space X pulls off successful test flight of world’s most powerful rocket

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/science/space-xs-pulls-of-successful-test-flight-of-worlds-most-powerful-rocket/news-story/90ca2d0f3d753ad03be0075d55539480