Before Tuesday's test launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, not even the company's CEO Elon Musk knew what to expect.
"It's either going to be an exciting success or an exciting failure," he said. "One big boom! I'd say tune in, it's going to be worth your time."
Musk was right: There was a big boom when the Falcon Heavy's 27 engines fired and lifted SpaceX's largest rocket into space. The booster rockets returned to Earth, landing at the same time like a pair of synchronized divers at the Olympics. The payload, a Tesla Roadster, made it to Mars orbit and beyond.
The launch felt part scientific breakthrough, part Silicon Valley product launch. It was filled with wonder, disbelief and humor -- there's a car traveling through space with a sign saying "Don't Panic!"
This rocket is kind of a big deal
SpaceX has launched rockets before, but the Falcon Heavy is the company's largest one to date. Tuesday's launch was the first attempt at sending it with a payload into space.In a press conference post-launch, Elon Musk said, "Crazy things can come true. I didn't really think this would work. When I see the rocket liftoff, I see a thousand things that could not work. And it's amazing when they do."
SpaceX has embraced the ups and downs that come with pushing rocket technology forward. Last year, the company posted this video, titled "How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster," on its YouTube channel. It's basically a highlight reel of rocket booster failures -- aka lots of explosions.
The Falcon's name
SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are named after Han Solo's ride in Star Wars, the Millennium Falcon.
It's big
At 230 feet (70 meters) tall, the Falcon Heavy is without a doubt impressive, but it's not the largest rocket ever. That distinction goes to NASA's Saturn V rocket, which stood 330 feet (111 meters) tall.Designed to be reusable
An early goal for SpaceX was the development of a system of reusable rockets. For decades one of the largest cost factors behind rockets was that they had to be built anew for each launch. Musk compared it to if airplanes had to be discarded after one flight.SpaceX focused on how to return its rockets to Earth and make a controlled landing. Last year, SpaceX did just that when the company landed a Falcon 9 booster onto a drone ship floating in the Atlantic. The drone ship's name is "Of Course I Still Love You," in tribute to the late sci-fi author Iain M. Banks.
Including that first landing, SpaceX has landed 21 Falcon 9 boosters back on Earth.
Three rockets
Last year's Falcon 9 had one booster rocket, while the Falcon Heavy has three: two first-stage boosters (aka Falcon 9 rockets) and one core booster. These three rockets give the Falcon Heavy 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg) of thrust, which allows it to carry 70 tons (63.5 metric tonnes) of cargo into space.
It can carry whales
The Falcon Heavy can carry a 140,700-pound (63,800-kg) payload into lower Earth orbit -- that's the equivalent of two humpback whales. For a trip to Mars, it can carry 37,000 lbs (16,800 kg) -- about the weight of 31 grand pianos.The rocket car
When a new rocket is tested, the payload is usually a concrete block. Typically, Musk thought that was boring and opted for a cherry-red Tesla Roadster with a dummy astronaut named Starman (after the David Bowie song) in the driver's seat."It looks so ridiculous and impossible. You can tell it's real because it looks so fake. We'd have way better CGI if it was fake," said Musk. "The imagery of it is something that's going to get people excited about it around the world."
A brand new spacesuit
The spacesuit Starman wears is actually one Space X revealed last summer. It looks sleek and futuristic with its gray and white color scheme and was tested to double vacuum pressure.Tesla Roadster Easter eggs
The car itself had a handful of Easter eggs:- On the dashboard sits a tiny Roadster and spaceman
- The dashboard's screen displays "Don't Panic!" a reference to the cover of the guide in the novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
- "Made on Earth by humans" is printed on the car's circuit board
- In the car is a disk with a digital copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of sci-fi books
- There's a plaque in the car engraved with the names of 6,000 SpaceX employees
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