{"id":14002,"date":"2018-02-07T22:26:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T14:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-debuts-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-sends-tesla-into-solar-system\/"},"modified":"2018-02-07T22:26:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T14:26:40","slug":"spacex-debuts-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-sends-tesla-into-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-debuts-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-sends-tesla-into-solar-system\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX debuts world\u2019s most powerful rocket, sends Tesla into solar system"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: <\/strong>Updated at 8:30 p.m. EST on Feb. 7 (0130 GMT on Feb. 8) with updated orbital elements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
SpaceX\u2019s first Falcon Heavy rocket climbs into the sky from launch pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rumbling into the sky from a historic NASA-owned launch pad, SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy rocket \u2014 the world\u2019s most powerful present-day launcher \u2014 flew for the first time Tuesday, dispatching a road-worn electric Tesla sports car with a spacesuit-clad mannequin nicknamed \u201cStarman\u201d on an interplanetary journey that will reach beyond the orbit of Mars.<\/p>\n

Spectacular live video from numerous cameras around the Florida launch base, and on-board the rocket itself, captivated millions of viewers on television and online as the Falcon Heavy climbed into space, then as its two strap-on boosters returned for a dual-landing punctuated by sonic booms.<\/p>\n

Once in orbit, the rocket and its cargo \u2014 a sleek Tesla Roadster taken from the garage of SpaceX-founder Elon Musk \u2014 looped around Earth for nearly six hours, beaming live video of a dummy positioned in the automobile\u2019s driver seat, one arm out the window and the other on the steering wheel.<\/p>\n

After a long-duration coast, the Falcon Heavy\u2019s upper stage engine reignited to give the Tesla and its mannequin passenger enough speed to break away from Earth\u2019s gravitational grip, sending the car and its rocket stage into an orbit centered on the sun that will travel as far away as the asteroid belt.<\/p>\n

Musk spoke to reporters at the Kennedy Space Center a few hours after liftoff, saying he was thrilled with the outcome of the demonstration mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really think this would work,\u201d Musk said. \u201cWhen I see the rocket lift off, I see, like, 1,000 things that could not work, and it\u2019s amazing when they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Falcon Heavy\u2019s use of designs proven on the operational Falcon 9 launcher, Musk voiced concerns about the structural stability of the rocket, an untried booster separation maneuver, and a marathon five-hour coast through the cold vacuum of space by the upper stage.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Elon Musk speaks with reporters after the Falcon Heavy\u2019s maiden flight. Credit: Stephen Clark\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dramatic test flight took off at 3:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT) Tuesday from launch pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same facility used by the Apollo 11 lunar landing crew and numerous space shuttle missions.<\/p>\n

SpaceX pushed back the liftoff more than two hours to wait for better upper level winds, and conditions improved just in time before Tuesday\u2019s launch window closed.<\/p>\n

The Falcon Heavy\u2019s on-board computer sent commands to ignite Merlin engines on two strap-on boosters as the countdown reached T-minus 5 seconds. Two seconds later, the controller ignited the Falcon Heavy\u2019s core stage, sending a fiery exhaust plume out of the flame trench at pad 39A.<\/p>\n

Hold-down clamps released as the clock ticked to zero, and the behemoth 3.1 million-pound rocket \u2014 equivalent to roughly 1,420 metric tons \u2014 lumbered away from pad 39A with nearly 5 million pounds of thrust, one-and-a-half times more than any other rocket flying today, and around two-thirds the power output of the space shuttle at liftoff.<\/p>\n

Rolling on course east over the Atlantic Ocean, the Falcon Heavy\u2019s 27 Merlin main engines sent a window-rattling roar across the Florida launch base as it surpassed the speed of sound and withstood extreme aerodynamic pressures, surviving the buffeting that some engineers worried could tear the rocket apart.<\/p>\n

The Falcon Heavy shed its two strap-on boosters and core stage for descents back to Cape Canaveral and to SpaceX\u2019s rocket recovery platform in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

The twin side boosters flipped around with the help of cold-gas nitrogen thrusters, then reignited a subset of their engines to return to Cape Canaveral, where they descended to pinpoint landings on two adjacent concrete pads a few miles south of the Falcon Heavy\u2019s launch complex.<\/p>\n

The rockets plummeted toward the ground, then fired one engine each to slow their fall moments before landing, touching down seconds apart as a sudden quadruple sonic boom crackled across the sprawling, swampy spaceport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe side boosters, if you guys were here, you saw them land,\u201d Musk said. \u201cThat was epic. That\u2019s probably the most exciting thing I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Falcon Heavy\u2019s twin side boosters touch down at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The center core stage was lost during a landing attempt at sea. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX tried to recover the Falcon Heavy\u2019s center core on a platform positioned a few hundred miles downrange in the Atlantic Ocean, but that maneuver did not go as well.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s core stage apparently ran out of igniter fluid, Musk said, and it crashed into the sea a short distance from the uncrewed drone ship, taking out two of the vessel\u2019s engines and showering its deck with debris.<\/p>\n

But that was the only hiccup SpaceX said occurred on Tuesday\u2019s test flight.<\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s live webcast \u2014 set to the tune of David Bowie\u2019s \u201cLife on Mars\u201d and the second most-watched live stream in YouTube history \u2014 ended around 10 minutes after liftoff, but the company quickly started another video feed that showed the Tesla sports car drifting in space, with planet Earth receding into the blackness of space.<\/p>\n

Several camera angles broadcast resplendent views of Earth\u2019s blue marble through the car\u2019s windshield, with the planet occasionally reflected off the Roadster\u2019s cherry red paint scheme and the darkened visor of Starman\u2019s helmet.<\/p>\n

The mannequin wore a spacesuit developed by SpaceX for future astronaut crews. The company is working on a human-rated capsule that could take NASA astronauts to the International Space Station by the end of this year, or in early 2019.<\/p>\n

Unaccompanied by commentary or music, the video of Starman conjured many comparisons to iconic science fiction and space opera productions, drawing attention from entertainers, politicians and the public.<\/p>\n

Musk announced the Falcon Heavy\u2019s cargo in December, capitalizing on an opportunity for cross-brand marketing between SpaceX and Tesla, his two primary companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can tell it\u2019s real because it looks so fake,\u201d Musk said of the video. \u201cWe\u2019d have way better CGI if it was fake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colors all look kind of weird in space,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no atmospheric occlusion. Everything looks too crisp. We didn\u2019t really test of any those materials (on the car). Is it space-hardened or whatever? It just has the same seats that a normal car has. It\u2019s literally a normal car in space, which I kind of like the absurdity of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cStarman\u201d soars over Australia a few hours after the Falcon Heavy\u2019s launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Musk opted for the Roadster\u2019s launch instead of putting ballast or an experimental craft on the first Falcon Heavy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s silly and fun, but I think silly, fun things are important,\u201d he said. \u201cNormally, for a new rocket, they\u2019d launch like a block of concrete, or something like that. That\u2019s so boring. I think the imagery of it is something that\u2019s going to get people excited around the world. It\u2019s still tripping me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX ground crews also placed a Hot Wheels model Roadster on the car\u2019s dash, with a mini-Starman inside. An \u201cArch\u201d data storage device placed inside the car contains a copy of Isaac Asimov\u2019s \u201cFoundation\u201d novels, and a plaque on the attach fitting between the Falcon Heavy upper stage and the Tesla is etched with the names of more than 6,000 SpaceX employees.<\/p>\n

A piece of circuit board on the Tesla proclaims the vehicle was \u201cmade on Earth by humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two firings of the upper stage\u2019s single engine sent the Tesla into an elliptical orbit stretching more than 4,300 miles (6,900 kilometers) from Earth before shutting down for a nearly six-hour coast, twice as long as any past Falcon 9 rocket flight.<\/p>\n

The rocket arced through the Van Allen radiation belts before reigniting its engine to give it an extra boost with enough speed to escape Earth orbit and head into the solar system.<\/p>\n

Long-duration upper stage flight profiles are required for the most demanding U.S. military launch missions, such as the placement of satellites directly into geostationary orbit, a circular perch more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. Multiple, perfectly-timed engine burns are needed to move from an initial low-altitude inclined parking orbit into such a high-altitude equatorial position.<\/p>\n

The lengthy upper stage flight Tuesday demonstrated the Falcon rocket family\u2019s capability to pull off such a feat, showcasing the performance to the Air Force and other prospective customers.<\/p>\n

Musk said before Tuesday\u2019s launch that the upper stage carried additional battery power and pressurant gas for the extra operating time in space.<\/p>\n

The final upper stage maneuver was expected to deplete the rocket\u2019s kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants.<\/p>\n

Multiple visual reports from Southern California suggested the Falcon Heavy\u2019s upper stage, the Tesla Roadster and Starman likely completed its Earth departure maneuver around 9:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. PST; 0230 GMT).<\/p>\n

The sightings shared via social media and by Spaceflight Now readers indicated the rocket flew across the southern sky as viewed from the Los Angeles area. That is in line with the expected track of the upper stage.<\/p>\n

One reader told Spaceflight Now the object looked like a comet as it appeared in the south-southeast sky in Los Angeles, at an elevation of about 25 degrees above the horizon. The object was moving to the east-southeast.<\/p>\n

Another reader described seeing multiple \u201cpuffs\u201d from the object as it traversed the sky.<\/p>\n

An all-sky camera at the MMT Observatory on a mountaintop in southern Arizona also recorded the Falcon Heavy\u2019s upper stage as it left Earth orbit.<\/p>\n