SpaceX Falcon Heavy (updates & maiden flight)

[Blue-Vision]

Oh hey -- I just figured out the naming convention too.

 

They'll likely name the ships, contextually-appropriate to the cargo/mission, after song titles.

 

Examples:

 

Mining/Digging/Excavation gear -- "Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac).

First Ship (or one of the first ships to carry Humans there) -- "Kashmir" (Led Zeppelin) or "Southern Cross" (Crosby, Stills, & Nash)

Starlink Constellation Ship -- "Eye In The Sky" (Alan Parsons Project)

 

See?  

[DocM]

This tweet from a couple weeks ago may have hinted at this.

 

 

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

You could argue semantics all you want, but there is no denying that this will make the Tesla Roadster the fastest production car ever made.

 

[DocM]

And, in about a million years, some alien astronaut is going to get one hell of a surprise when Musk's Tesla buzzes his species space station

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Not this trip ...

Quote

Elon Musk told us he was sending a car to space, then said he totally made it up

 

Always willing to up the stakes of an already difficult situation, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said the first flight of his company’s Falcon Heavy rocket will be used to send a Tesla Roadster into space. Musk first tweeted out the idea on Friday evening, but in an email response to our inquiry confirming the plan, Musk wrote "it's so real." After this story was published, Musk told us he "totally made it up."

 

/snip

 

The Verge

[DocM]

Still in flux, but Musk is still telling Ars as of 25 min ago it's for real.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/with-bowie-playing-on-the-radio-elon-musk-plans-to-launch-his-tesla-to-mars/

 

Quote

Saturday update: There has been some confusion today because Elon Musk told The Verge on Saturday morning that he "totally made it up" about sending a Tesla Roadster to Mars. However, in multiple emails with Ars on Saturday afternoon, Musk confirmed that this plan is, indeed, real.

Quote

 

erberger Ars Technica Space Editor 26m

 

Elon says the mission is real on Twitter. 

 

Confirms last night in email.

 

Elon tells the Verge he totally made it up.

 

Elon is pretty adamant with me this afternoon.

 

He has told one publication it's not real. My guess is that he's unhappy with that publication. (edited)

 

Edited December 2, 2017 by DocM

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Another one weighs in. Sounds like someone was messing with The Verge.

 

 

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Perhaps they're testing the BFS's Hohmann transfer trajectory....

 

http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/elon-musk-on-the-roadster-to-mars

 

Quote

ELON MUSK: ON THE ROADSTER TO MARS

 

Phil Plait @BadAstronomer
>
But as I thought about Musks tweets more, I began to wonder: Is he serious? My colleague Eric Berger at Ars Technica wrote an article saying yes, he was. Then an article came out on The Verge saying Musk told them he was joking. Which was it?

So I decided to contact Musk. He got back to me, and gave me the info. There have been a lot of rumors and misinformation about what's going on here, so let me lay this out for y'all:

1) Yes, he's serious. He's putting a Tesla Roadster in the top of the Falcon Heavy and launching it into space.

2) No, it's not going to Mars. Its going near Mars. He said it'll be placed in "a precessing Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun." What he means by this is what's sometimes called a Hohmann transfer orbit, an orbit around the Sun that takes it as close to the Sun as Earth and as far out as Mars. This is a low-energy orbit; that is, it takes the least amount of energy to put something in this orbit from Earth. That makes sense for a first flight.
>
>
>

 

[DocM]

 

 

 

 

 

[anthdci]

I really hope this goes up while I'm there from the 10th until the 24th. Doesn't look like anything else will be flying from the cape in that window.

[Beittil]

 

OMG OMG!

[+John. Subscriber¹]

Keep calm, everyone! It's finally happening!

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

So glad these were finally posted! 

[DocM]

Fire and brimstone man, real Wrath of God stuff when that candle lights up.

[+rdlenk Subscriber²]

Can't wait, going to be a hell of a show. We fully expect it to shake parts of the pad to pieces.

[anthdci]

3 hours ago, rdlenk said:

Can't wait, going to be a hell of a show. We fully expect it to shake parts of the pad to pieces.

i know you cant give anything away but do you think i can plan to see it when im there between the 10th and 24th january? My wife is getting on my back because she wants to book discovery cove and to see a orlando magics game but i dont want it to clash.

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

 

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

 

Hmmmmm.  

[Blue-Vision]

A good presentation of the Falcon Heavy platform as a whole, including what it took to get it here.

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

[anthdci]

can’t be long until a static fire then!

[+John. Subscriber¹]

I'd love if they got this in before the new year.

 

PS Happy holidays guys, hope you all had a good one