Check Out The Awesome New Falcon Heavy, Elon Musk's Bet To Take Humans To Mars And Beyond
The new rocket will launch for the first time in January 2018.
Elon Musk has offered the world the first peek at his new rocket, the one he says is going to give SpaceX heavy launch capability and let them eventually reach Mars.
Images courtesy: Elon Musk/Twitter
The commercial space agency¡¯s CEO tweeted out the first photos of the Falcon Heavy this week, showcasing the launch vehicle in its hangar in Florida, where it preps for a maiden launch in January.
It¡¯s been years since the powerful rocket was first announced, having been plagued by delays during its R&D process. Essentially, it¡¯s a launch vehicle composed of three of the existing Falcon 9 rocket boosters strapped together, with a second stage booster at the top of the central fuselage.
And, as we¡¯ve already written about, Musk plans for the Falcon Heavy to carry a special payload on its maiden voyage. It¡¯ll be transporting his cherry-red Tesla Roadster atop the rocket into orbit, at least unless there are any legal hiccups involving that plan.
Falcon Heavy launching from same @NASA pad as the Saturn V Apollo 11 moon rocket. It was 50% higher thrust with five F-1 engines at 7.5M lb-F. I love that rocket so much.
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2017
During this first launch, the Falcon Heavy will be running at 92 percent capacity. If the launch itself is successful, we¡¯ll be able to witness SpaceX¡¯s attempts to then land all three Falcon rockets once they¡¯ve separated from the second stage. And if that happens, it¡¯s a huge step towards cheaper, and further spaceflight that could get us to Mars very very soon.
