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Takka

SpaceX will attempt to launch a red Tesla Roadster to the red planet

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Previously, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said he intends to launch the "silliest thing we can imagine" on the maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy. This is partly because the rocket is experimental—there is a non-trivial chance the rocket will explode on the launch pad, or shortly after launch. It is also partly because Musk is a master showman who knows how to grab attention.

 

Spoiler

On Friday evening, Musk tweeted what that payload would be—his "midnight cherry Tesla Roadster." And the car will be playing Space Oddity, by David Bowie; the song which begins, "Ground Control to Major Tom." Oh, and the powerful Falcon Heavy rocket will send the Tesla into orbit around Mars. "Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent," Musk added. Ars was able to confirm Friday night from a company source that this is definitely a legitimate payload.

 

Earlier on Friday, Musk also said the Falcon Heavy launch would come "next month" from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, meaning in January. The company may attempt a "static fire" test of the rocket's three cores, and 27 engines, on the launch pad this month. As the Falcon Heavy rocket has been oft-delayed, launch dates should not be taken too literally, but it does seem like the rocket and associated hardware are close to ready to fly.

 

Silly payloads are kind of a tradition for SpaceX. Earlier this year, Musk explained that, inspired by the suggestion of a friend and the British comedy group Monty Python's The Cheese Shop sketch, the Dragon spacecraft's demonstration flight in 2010 carried among its cargo a giant wheel of French Gruyére cheese.

 

In this case, sending a Tesla to Mars (it may be this vehicle) would not only have some panache, it would provide some cross promotion for Musk's other major company. It would also send a message to NASA and those who fund the space agency—SpaceX's new rocket can reach Mars, and the privately developed booster could play a major role in any plans the agency has to send humans to the Moon. No private company has ever launched a spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit, let alone to another planet.

 

"The launch of the biggest rocket since the U.S. Moon booster is a game changer for our country's space exploration future and for national security," said Phil Larson, an assistant dean at the University of Colorado, and a former SpaceX official. "The fact that development of such a capability is coming from U.S. industry is a very positive sign for our economic competitiveness."

 

Source

 

DiSiAC likes this

Oddly, this is familiar to you... as if from an old dream.  

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Tiddy-bits:

wait, so the strangest thing he could imagine to launch to mars was a car? Why not something like a submarine? or a giant pair of fuzzy dice? or 80 crates filled with Monopoly? 

Puddin likes this

Who am I but myself?

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6 minutes ago, Anthony said:

wait, so the strangest thing he could imagine to launch to mars was a car? Why not something like a submarine? or a giant pair of fuzzy dice? or 80 crates filled with Monopoly? 

It's a Tesla car. This is the greatest thing I've ever heard of.

Puddin likes this

Oddly, this is familiar to you... as if from an old dream.  

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43 minutes ago, DiSiAC said:

According to multiple employees within the company, and an ArsTechnicia reporter hearing directly from Elon about an hour ago, it's definitely not a joke.

 

Legitimately though, why wouldn't they do this? They sent up a wheel of cheese on the first Falcon 1 launch, and their target is Mars (for testing navigation for later launches). Considering the rocket is most likely going to blow up (according to Elon), there's not really a reason to not send something dumb.


Oddly, this is familiar to you... as if from an old dream.  

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4 hours ago, Legion said:

I can imagine Tesla getting some positive attention if it actually manages to land on Mars.

Not going to be landing; just orbiting for at least a billion years.

 

If they managed to land it, they'd be in violation of regulations regarding biological contamination from Earth.

Puddin and swamp like this

Oddly, this is familiar to you... as if from an old dream.  

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7 hours ago, Tucker933 said:

It's a Tesla car. This is the greatest thing I've ever heard of.

I was meaning that, a tesla car isnt really that dumb of a thing to send up, if we reach the point where we colonize mars someone would recover it as a museum piece, a record of what it took to get there, part of its history. Not really that silly or dumb if you think about it. thus why i suggested 80 crates full of monopoly board games.


Who am I but myself?

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The Verge updated with:

 

Quote

Confirmation followed a bizarre exchange between The Verge and Musk. After Musk tweeted the plan, we asked him to confirm that it was real. Musk replied to us first by email, confirming that it was real. Then, after The Verge published a story about the plan, Musk sent us a response in a direct message on Twitter saying he “totally made it up.” We now know that response was false; a person familiar with the matter told The Verge Saturday evening that the payload is in fact real.

 

I wonder if they're just covering their asses, because that sounds really weird.


Oddly, this is familiar to you... as if from an old dream.  

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