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posted by janrinok on Thursday December 21 2017, @11:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the complacency-disrupticons dept.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket sets up at Cape Canaveral ahead of launch

SpaceX won't hit its 2017 target for a test flight of its new, huge Falcon Heavy rocket – but the massive launch craft is now in place at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where it will undergo testing including a full static test fire, as well as final assembly, before attempting its inaugural launch early next year.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared images of the Falcon Heavy set up in a Cape Canaveral facility, nearly complete minus some remaining elements like the fairing and payload that will top the rocket.

Here's hoping for a successful test flight of Falcon Heavy.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday December 21 2017, @02:51PM (8 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 21 2017, @02:51PM (#612802) Journal

    Is it going to sit at the location it is intended to launch from for a whole 10-15 days?

    Why not? They can't launch through bad weather yet or equipment problems like fuel leaks.

    Is Musky really going to get his Tesla Roadster into Mars orbit?

    Perhaps not, but he can knock it out of the Earth-Moon system.

    If that does succeed, should it be considered a nuisance/space junk?

    Why should we care who considers it "space junk"?

    Musk has said that the launch might have a 50% chance of success and that he just hopes the rocket will get far enough from the launch pad to not damage it. Is he deliberately lowballing the chance of success to make the accomplishment seem more exciting?

    Sounds like there's significant risk then. If it does blow up, does that mean he deliberately lowballed the chance of failure? Sometimes the only way to figure out how to do something, is to do it.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday December 21 2017, @04:27PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday December 21 2017, @04:27PM (#612829) Journal

    Why not? They can't launch through bad weather yet or equipment problems like fuel leaks.

    I didn't particularly know. Seemed like a long time to keep it on the pad (a whole year even!).

    Why should we care who considers it "space junk"?

    He wants to send 1 million people to Mars (sure, over a long time) which would take 10,000 BFR trips.

    I guess it doesn't matter with Phobos and Deimos looming overhead.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:19PM (6 children)

    by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:19PM (#612851) Journal

    My Question is this: Could an Astronaut hop a ride in the Tesla, if the car made it safely? *Assuming an Astronaut makes it to the Mars surface in a reasonable time frame.* Probably the coolest publicity stunt I could ever conceived of, would be having an Astronaut cruising around in a Tesla. It would be the Only production car to ever be driven on the surface of a celestial body. It could quite possibly end up being the Only to ever accomplish the feat at that. Even attempting it, makes for a rather cool possibility.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:24PM (4 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 21 2017, @05:24PM (#612856) Journal

      *oops* Was thinking there was a possible plan to land it on Mars . . .

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday December 21 2017, @06:00PM (3 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday December 21 2017, @06:00PM (#612867) Journal

        Breaking News: First Car Crash on Mars

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        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday December 21 2017, @07:27PM (1 child)

          by bob_super (1357) on Thursday December 21 2017, @07:27PM (#612913)

          Try explaining that one to your insurance guy.

          On the other hand, first one to crash into a tree beyond LEO has to win something.

          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 21 2017, @10:39PM

            by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 21 2017, @10:39PM (#612995) Journal

            Possibly a Darwin award?

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday December 22 2017, @06:04AM

          by legont (4179) on Friday December 22 2017, @06:04AM (#613125)

          First car crash death on Mars; and it's gonna be Uber's anyway. (note that the first American was killed... in NYC by an electric cab https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_H._Bliss [wikipedia.org] )

          --
          "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 1) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday December 21 2017, @11:07PM

      by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 21 2017, @11:07PM (#613013) Journal

      If they were going anywhere near Mars there would be significant delays to scrub the car and descent module for planetary protection.

      It's going to be an artificial satellite or a Terran debris field. We're not sure which yet.