Elon Musk Reveals Photos of Tesla Roadster Launching on Falcon Heavy Rocket

[F-22Raptor]

Elon Musk is really sending his Tesla Roadster to Mars.

On Friday (Dec. 22), Musk, the CEO and chief technology officer of SpaceX, posted photos to his Instagram account revealing the “midnight cherry” electric sports car being prepared for launch on the company’s first Falcon Heavy rocket.

"Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks. That seemed extremely boring," Musk wrote on the photo sharing website. "Of course, anything boring is terrible, especially companies, so we decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel."

"The payload will be an original Tesla Roadster, playing 'Space Oddity,' on a billion year elliptic Mars orbit," Musk wrote in the post, which he titled: "A Red Car for the Red Planet."

Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, first announced that his Roadster was space-bound Dec. 1 on Twitter. The announcement was first met with some skepticism, but the photos should put any doubt to rest.

The images show the red convertible atop a payload adapter, positioned between the two towering halves of the fairing that will be mounted atop the Falcon Heavy rocket, shielding the Roadster during its ascent into Earth orbit. If successful, the launch will put the car on a path to intercept the orbit of Mars.

The Falcon Heavy combines three SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, such that it rides atop 27 Merlin engines firing in unison. When it enters service, it will be the most powerful rocket in operation, capable of lifting the equivalent of a Boeing 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel.

The Falcon Heavy’s two side-mounted boosters and central core are designed to be reusable, flying back to Earth to land on land- and sea-based platforms.

The maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy, with the Tesla Roadster, is targeted for January from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

https://www.space.com/39195-elon-musk-tesla-roadster-falcon-heaavy-photo.html

 

[F-22Raptor]

 

[Pax Ottomana]

What a shameful waste of money and resources, given how so many universities across the US and the world would love to use the capacity for their scientific payload.

 

[That Guy]

What a shameful waste of money and resources, given how so many universities across the US and the world would love to use the capacity for their scientific payload.

Shameful? It's a private venture, he can launch a sandwich alone in a rocket, if he wants, because it's his damn company.

Get off your high horse.

 

[Pax Ottomana]

Shameful? It's a private venture, he can launch a sandwich alone in a rocket, if he wants, because it's his damn company.

Get off your high horse.

LOL. No one's arguing his right to do so. But when you're spending hundreds of millions to launch a fvcking car to Mars when the money could've been much better spent elsewhere, I have my own right to call it a fvcking shame. And if anyone needs to get off their high horse, clearly it's Elon Musk.

 

[HannibalBarca]

At least we gonna get the first ever "flying car" when that thing decide to come back on earth...

 

[Quibbler]

LOL. No one's arguing his right to do so. But when you're spending hundreds of millions to launch a fvcking car to Mars when the money could've been much better spent elsewhere, I have my own right to call it a fvcking shame. And if anyone needs to get off their high horse, clearly it's Elon Musk.

What a shameful waste of money and resources, given how so many universities across the US and the world would love to use the capacity for their scientific payload.

This growing fashion of everybody being an expert without an iota of information, sitting on their snooty lazy asses and dissing people who have done great and hard work for a long time, just because they cant feel superior without showing how smart they are when actually they are dumb as hell, needs to stop.

I hate to explain to these people but for the sense on completeness. Its a experimental flight . i.e a high chance of failure. Doesn't make sense to send a satellite that will probably fail. They usually send rocks on experimental flights. (you would know if you had read the article).

Get of you high horse and stop making absolute statements.

This is such a beauty.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

What a shameful waste of money and resources, given how so many universities across the US and the world would love to use the capacity for their scientific payload.

It's basically an experimental first flight. He already stated it may blow up on the pad.
Why risk anything of value? He said he'll put his old car instead of something like sand. Let it get destroyed. If it makes it...then that will be a more amusing thing in space than sand.

Plus if it is successful the three main parts will land and will be reused. BTW I believe all 3 have previously flown.

 

[Jinn Baba]

It's basically an experimental first flight. He already stated it may blow up on the pad.
Why risk anything of value? He said he'll put his old car instead of something like sand. Let it get destroyed. If it makes it...then that will be a more amusing thing in space than sand.

Plus if it is successful the three main parts will land and will be reused. BTW I believe all 3 have previously flown.

It's also excellent advertisement no matter what happens now.

 

[Pax Ottomana]

Experimental flights can also carry scientific payloads. I specifically mentioned universities, e.g. small and cheap student-built satellites, probes and/or experiments. Also, clearly the intention here is a successful launch but it wouldn't be a huge loss for the science community if it failed. Many undergrads or even Ph.D. students would've been fine with the risk and still loved to be able to send something to space for free, which would've served the humanity a lot better than this obvious marketing stunt.

 

[That Guy]

LOL. No one's arguing his right to do so. But when you're spending hundreds of millions to launch a fvcking car to Mars when the money could've been much better spent elsewhere, I have my own right to call it a fvcking shame. And if anyone needs to get off their high horse, clearly it's Elon Musk.

Because you get to decide what other people can spend their money on, right? How dare you buy a TV and a big house, when that money could be used to feed the poor. How DARE you buy your kids toys, when that money could go to Somalia's drought stricken people.

Who're you to be the moral police, and decide what is right and wrong about how other people spend their money? Dude, just stop, because the only one with a high horse here is you.