CNN is reporting that SpaceX‘s Falcon Heavy had a successful liftoff today:
The pioneering rocket firm just pulled off the unexpected, and carried out what appears to be a seamless first-ever launch of its massive new rocket, called Falcon Heavy.
That makes SpaceX the owner of the world’s most powerful operational rocket.
Falcon Heavy took flight Tuesday around 3:45 pm ET from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
About two and a half minutes after launch, the two side boosters on the rocket detached and headed back to Earth.
The rocket is built by SpaceX, the game-changing company helmed by billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Thousands of onlookers could be heard cheering on the company’s livestream.
In the run up to launch, it wasn’t at all clear whether the rocket would work.
“People [came] from all around the world to see what will either be a great rocket launch or the best fireworks display they’ve ever seen,” Elon Musk said in an interview with CNN’s Rachel Crane.
Wow. I was just reading about the complicated plumbing that goes into these monsters, because they’re really multiple rockets strapped together. Two of the boosters made it back down and landed safely; news on the third is not available. And you have to like this:
On board the rocket that’s now headed deeper into space is Musk’s personal Tesla (TSLA) roadster. At the wheel is a dummy dressed in a spacesuit, and the car is blaring David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” on an endless loop. Cameras on board the car showed it still headed deeper into outer space. Musk plans to put the car into orbit around the sun.
That’s called testosterone, I do believe.
