Other than the color (red instead of white) doesn't the whole red roadster bit seem a lot like the opening scene in the animated sci/fie horror film Heavy Metal.
1
What is the relationship between our government and this private effort? Does Mr. Musk compensate taxpayers for use of our facilities?
4
The timing does make this feel like the world’s most expensive Super Bowl ad.
The first step to Mars.
A small step for mankind but a giant leap to SpaceX.
2
Thank you Mr Musk. Something in the news that we in the US of A can feel excitement and pride in.
Mr Musk, Thank you for something American to be proud of in this era of (I don't even want to say the name.)
I haven't felt this kind of excitement since I saw video sent from Tranquility Base and watched Shuttle lift-off videos.
And that perfectly choreographed landing of the side boosters!!!! Oh, to be young again.
Bravissimo to the Space X team; the engineers, technicians, constructors, and to Mr Musk!
11
This is awesome! He's a real life Tony Stark! Can't wait to see the future of space travel!
3
So much criticism of Elon Musk and yet:
#1 in electric cars
#1 in lithium ion battery production
#1 in solar power backups
#1 in rockets
#1 in BF ideas
If that is worth criticizing, I'll take a dozen.
16
I think it was all of wast of money for a space ship
1
If anyone can fix the NYC Subway System, it's Elon Musk. Has anyone asked him?
5
My concern is the colonial mindset, the mentality that because something is "there", it's ours for the taking.
What gives a private corporation--or human beings in general--the inalienable right to settle on and colonize Mars? Because it's "there"? Does possession of the ability and resources to do so automatically grant ethical and moral permission to invade another planet and do with it as we please--for our own exclusive benefit?
Such thinking is reminiscent of colonialism in previous centuries, when European countries invested technology and resources in settling and exploiting Africa, the Americas, and other lands. Many of the problems we face here on Earth today are the consequences of the belief that the planet and its resources are ours to consume and exploit to our liking.
I would prefer human beings clean up the mess we made here, and leave Mars alone. As a species, it is time we learned to stop behaving like locusts, where with our numbers and appetites, we consume and destroy place after place, moving on after each environment is fully consumed, exploited, and desolate.
When we have mastered sustainability and achieving balance with our environment and the grand ecosystem in which we currently live, perhaps a discussion of settlement on Mars would be appropriate. Until then, I believe it would do Elon Musk and his fellow Mars enthusiasts to study the history of colonialism from the 15th century on...study, and *learn*.
6
Showman first Inventor next.
1
If you are poor, you can leave your car out to rust in the yard.
If you are super rich, you can show a lot more sophistication by leaving it to drift around in space.
This is the best of our country...not enough examples of this...Too many examples of the worst.
Notice Trump did not congradulate or comment on this achievement.
Somehow he will take credit for it ...I would give it 2 days.
7
To the many commenters here that grip about 'wasting money on rich men's toys... we should focus on solving earthbound problems instead'... I say you haven't looked at the whole of Musk's activities. He is using his prodigious talent and risking all his wealth to solve serious problems:
Solar City... end the use of fossil fuels within 20 years / move the grid to renewable resources
Giga Factory... drive down the cost of battery storage costs to allow intermittent renewables to become our mainstay
The Boring Co.... end metropolitan congestion, noise, pollution
Tesla... lead the auto/truck industry away from internal combustion and toward electric propulsion
SpaceX... drastically reduce the cost of spaceflight to enable exploration, sub-orbital transportation, future colonization of other parts of our solar system
Hyperloop... high-speed inter city transport
These ARE important goals. And here's a man dedicating his life and wealth to address these problems. Even more amazingly, he's DOING it.
How can anyone respond with anything less than admiration?!
I hope we see the emergence of 100+ Elons!
9
What percent of the ozone layer was sacrifice in order to put an obsolete sports car into orbit?
To quote the opening to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
"Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space."
There are over 150 million asteroids larger than 100 meters orbiting within the inner Solar System. People who are upset about a Tesla thrown into the mix need to be put in the Total Perspective Vortex.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_...
The amazing thing about this whole endeavor is that we are all Starman getting to experience the Overview Effect. I will never be on a Space Shuttle or go to the Space Station, but I have been to the Tesla dealer and actually sat in a Roadster. I can now imagine myself sitting in my Roadster in an awesome space suit chillin' to David Bowie as I orbit the Sun for a billion years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect
7
Perfect! You nailed it!
2
This is the beginning of the beginning!
Good job and kudos to Musk and his crew of innovators....
Being unobstructed by philosophy and preconceptions brought new generation of us daring to do things better faster and more efficient... opened new technologies to all...
Great job, Musk!
You go, man!
7
The lunch brought back pleasant memories of watching the Saturn V .. thank you Mr. Musk...it's been way to long.
5
This is a nice step forward. I just wish Mr. Musk would take on hugely beneficial contributions like Space Based Solar Power instead of not very useful ideas like sending people to Mars.
I know this is supposed to be amazing but instead, something about it saddens me deeply instead. So many “futuristic” things are already staring to happen. VR, AR, self driving electric cars, gene-editing, supercomputers, crypto currency, etc. But this is different. If indeed this is the first step toward space colonization, then we are essentially saying let us forget earth and this world. We can tear it to pieces and it doesn’t matter because and we’ll just move to a new planet. And of course those without means will be left here to fend for themselves and die. I wish we could use somehow our brains collectively for the here and now ...
3
Serious endeavors intobsoace don’t include car and a mannequin. I don’t believe this for a moment.
That's the point, isn't it? It wasn't serious, it was humorous. It's his money so he can do what he wants. If you want, you can use your money to design and build a rocket to put your very serious payload into space and we will all hurumph and say, Oh, what a serious endeavor!"
4
Just great, a sports car in space. When do we give our space program back to NASA?
2
NEVER!!!!
The Fun is just beginning!
Just send Trump & Putin there swirling around the Sun... add half of Congress and Russian parliament
6
It's not atom "out" space program. It is his rocket, and his dime.
Filthy rich people have an obscene sense of what is silly and fun. Silly and not fun for those haunted people around our globe whom no-one will give sanctity and who could have survived for years on the money this filthy rich man spend on sending a thing as stupid as a car into long-time orbit. I mean, how low are Americans going to allow their country to sink? J, M & J...
1
Elon Musk was a legal immigrant, which means he filed all the necessary paperwork before he got his green card, and then after five years, became a US citizen. Now why can't all the illegal immigrants follow Mr Musk's example?
5
Once again, Elon Musk proves that you can do interesting things with other people's money.
3
It cost a lot of money that maybe could have been used for something better, but, a convertible in space is sooooooo, darn cool! Viva, Musk!
4
“About 15 seconds later, a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators."
Not sure how fast they expected a roar to travel. That's pretty much the speed of roars, or any sound for that matter.
5
The successful launch of the Falcon Heavy sparks the hopes and dreams of many of us to go beyond what we know and (think) we can do.
The safe synchronized return of the 2 side boosters will raise the bar on using our resources more effectively. Even the failure of the main booster will be a driver for more improvements.
Putting a car into space as a 'joke' unfortunatly does 2 things which where useless and un-inspiring at the same time: a waste of earth resources and expanding earth's pollution issues into our solar system...
Let's launch a valuable symbol next time Mr Musk
1
Trust me, putting a tiny object in a solar to asteroid belt trajectory does not create any "pollution" at all. It's called "space" for a reason, and people who think they are green while not having the scientific mettle to know what "green" actually means will be the death of us.
6
One might ask what happened to the U.S. government's efforts to explore space, to search for and develop, newer and more impressive technologies? We haven't seen any substantive developments in about 50 years. Why not? Here's a nugget: antigravity technology exists, within our own government's R&D "group", and we've had it for some time. This explains why civilian developments in this field have been routinely shut down for "national security", and why we haven't been interested in further development of rocket technology. The actual real-world application of new knowledge of physics has been stalled, because we want it stalled. Don't you ever wonder how so much money (listen to Rumsfeld, on 9/10/01, tell us the Pentagon couldn't account for $2.3 TRILLION in transactions) can just disappear? It's been used for "other" projects since the 1940s. We're being lied to, much more than most citizens are aware. The sideshow in DC is a distraction.
How is it possible to conceive of enlarging our already bloated defense budget? We spend at EMPIRE levels, yet where are our adversaries?
3
Elon Musk is quite the visionary, and I hope this effort towards space travel and exploration will continue for generations to come. Maybe someday it will provide answers to why we are here and if we're alone in the universe. Maybe it will provide insight into new technologies and cures. If we're lucky, we might even make contact with another civilization that might benefit all involved. Contrary to popular xenophobia and countless sci-fi movies, not every alien wants to harm us - think of it as "To Serve Man" is a manual and not a cookbook. Sometimes we just have to make the effort because we can, and it's in our nature to explore to see what's around the corner. Since we no longer send astronauts to the moon, rebooting any space efforts by launching a sports car into space isn't just cool or silly (love the sign on the dashboard) - it has the capability to inspire creativity in new generations to see what else we can do in space.
3
Just think... A million years from now, our successors will discover Mr. Musk's car and marvel at its ability to drive into solar orbit.
1
Musk should have offered Trump a ride in his new Tesla!
4
My first reaction was, like many others, "really"? All he could think of was launching one of his cars into space? That is, unfortunately, a sign that despite his pretenses towards beings a scientist and innovator, underneath it all, it all about preening his galactic size ego. He could have launched a satellite that actually served a purpose, added to monitoring global warming, for example. But no. Launching his car on his rocket. Childish.
I can see Dev’s point, but had the rocket exploded upon launch, a satellite that took years to develop and cost hundreds of millions of dollars (or more) would have been lost. Admittedly, even though a launch vehicle with a long history can still explode, sending a satellite into orbit on a maiden voyage was probably seen as too risky.
5
Would you put your satellite worth millions atop an untested rocket? He can afford the car, let him drive it to Mars and beyond. Quite a test drive I think. Reusable boosters landing back at the Cape eight minutes after launch? Strike a blow for recycling.
3
People see this as a waste of money...Really? He employs 6,000 of the brightest people out there, and pays them well to do what they love. Engineering is what creates growth in this country...not retail jobs, not service jobs, not even most health care jobs. If America expects to stay on top (which is debatable apparently) we can only do this through innovation and science.
15
Wow...nice to know that, according to you, most of us--the work that we do--are worthless (because we're not engineers).
As if Elon Musk or his 6,000 employees would have been able to accomplish this without good health care and teachers. I suppose they sew all of their own clothing and produce their own food as well?
The controlled landing of those two boosters was the closest thing to a 1950s B movie vision of space travel that I've ever seen. So completely and utterly cool. And personally, I love the idea of that goofy red convertible circling the skies. Wow!
10
OK, this is fun stuff, and hats off to Musk and his brethren, who are smart and ambitious persons who have made some serious accomplishments. But I do wish that somebody who knows something about biology would sit this group down and explain why we humans are never going to be living long-term on Mars or anyplace other than Earth. Maybe they already know and understand this, and just use this whole concept as flashy advertising for their real business, selling the capacity for launching military/surveillance/communications hardware into space.
2
"Since 2010, the company has been sending the smaller Falcon 9 rocket into orbit, deploying satellites and carrying cargo to crews aboard the International Space Station. The company has disrupted the global launch business with its lower prices and reusable boosters." - Another reason to clap for COMPETITION and keeping government bureaucrat's hands out of it. Creation of jobs and plenty of advances in technology are an added bonus. The world should have many, many more Elon Musks putting their own money where their mouth is, rather than politicians putting YOUR tax money where THEIR political ambitions are. If Elon Musk fails, it's on his dime, if a politician throws away tax money on useless projects; it's YOUR loss. Long live private entrepreneurship!
4
As a Floridian, I find this so exciting to see innovation and progress on the space coast. Its a shame that our federal government has basically abandoned space exploration, but I am happy to see Musk and others in the private sphere make these strides.
The Federal government ought to be investing in science and research and space exploration, those investments pay off hugely in the form of innovation and technological progress for all of us. Sad that the Republicans are so anti-science.
4
I grew up admiring the Mercury and Gemini NASA space programs, when America embraced science, technology and the desire to explore “the final frontier.” I miss that great America. Thanks to Elon Musk, an immigrant, and his SpaceX team for the reminder of what actually makes America great.
2
This few minutes of watching an incredible feat of science and engineering will help me through the misery of the Trump disaster. This is what makes America great. Thank you to everyone who made this happen. It couldn't have come at a better time. Awesome!!
5
I was cheering along with the SpaceX team all through the exciting launch. With stocks tumbling, the government pathetic, the weather abusive, it was a wonderful tonic in early February. The super bowl was pretty exiting as well.
Of course there are always the folks (I am resisting the application of labels, in the sprit of yesterdays accomplishment) who would prefer this effort directed at world hunger, racism, poverty in the US, cancer, et al. Forgive me, but I believe there are several well intentioned programs, past and present, directed at these issues - probably with even more funding. But they seem to fail. Why?
One reason is the introduction of an outside party into the mix. Someone who takes the money. Even the best designed and managed programs seem to have suffered because of this - recent reports here of Mr. Gates' charities, as I recall. Remember the FEMA trailers? Do people still live in them?
Find a way to go after these worthy causes while keeping the government and the social programs out of it. Then you will see progress...
1
Brilliant, visionary people who can execute on their dreams come along so rarely. Elon Musk is this century's Thomas Edison, and I am thrilled by his accomplishments.
4
Launching rockets is fun, I agree. I simply don't see the benefit of launching cars into orbit. A little husbandry for planet earth and her resources would be a more noble endeavor.
The car was a TEST load for a launch that could have easily blown whatever was on top of the rocket to smithereens. What would YOU have put there?
2
Science and technology is supposed to be fun. These are not the days of the white shirt pocket protector engineers of the moon landing.
Tesla was never given the acclaim for all of the technology he has given us. Kudos to Elon for making the name of Tesla known to most people on the planet. Elon also has said that the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series of books made a deep impression on him. One of the many notable phrases in the book is “Don’t Panic!”, which is displayed on the dashboard of the orbiting Tesla. As far as this being a publicity stunt for Tesla sales, Elon’s problems are not sales but production. This would be more aptly put into the category of “Honor your father and mother….”
After everything is said and done the launch of the Falcon Heavy was inspirational. It may not have been the moon landing but we are starved for the technological leaps we had been anticipating since then. Viewing the simultaneous landing of the boosters did give me those feelings I had with the moon landing. The marvels of what we can do but more of what we will do. Elon has brought this emotion back. A radio show I was listening to had a caller say the Falcon Heavy launch has just created 30 new future astronauts
I thank Elon and SpaceX for the pride and inspiration they give all of us. I look forward to buying Elon and his crew a beer…on Mars. Cheers to Elon Musk, a man who really knows where his towel is!...Read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
6
What a great immigrant Mr. Musk is!
Thank you for what you're doing for this country!
To all those people who are saying he should have used the money to end world hunger , I say all the money in the world will not end hunger or cure all diseases or end all evil . There will always be hunger , disease and evil till the end of time . We can always work at making the world a better place but while working on that we can continue doing incredible things Like what we just witnessed Elon Musk and co. do .
Our forefathers never envisioned Skype , iPhones , driverless cars , high speed rail to name a few and yet here we are less than hundred years later .
I cannot imagine where technology will take us in some years time . I can only dream and to all the Elon Musks of this world who are working hard to make our wildest dreams come true , I say Brava and more grease to your elbows !
Ignore all the naysayers .
3
Picture the early explorers. They climbed into boats with no idea where they were going, or if they would survive the journey. This isn't really much different.
1
Weighed against the billions on THIS planet in need of food, shelter and medical care, the expenditure of this kind of money to explore the far reaches of space is obscene. He's a boy with toys. Sure "scientific discoveries!!", but these do nothing to alleviate the suffering of people here and now, on THIS planet, TODAY. And I don't believe anyone thinks Elon Musk is doing this for the benefit of humanity--he has more money than any person should ever have, is completely detached from the world of ordinary (let alone low-income and poor) people, and he's doing this because he can. Others may find what he's doing 'inspiring'; I call it wasteful and a offense against every person who's struggling just to stay alive.
So, have you sold your apartment or your car yet?
3
We cannot even keep our own planet in good order. We produce waste, garbage, and pollution everywhere we go. Now we are beginning to trash space. We pollute, and call it progress. This space travel business is utter baloney. Nobody needs to go to space.
We need to stop throwing money at terrible, ego-driven tech ideas and start putting tech to work cleaning up the mess we have made here, so that the seven billion people already on Earth can live decent lives in an environment that has been properly cared for.
This is the real challenge for our age, and the one that should be concerning all scientists, but of course, cleaning up the mess humans make isn't as glamorous or shiny or entertaining as setting ninety million dollars on fire in order to throw some more trash into the universe.
1
Great men do great things. Little men tweet.
3
Just amazing! THIS is why the world loves Americans!
This is what makes America Great. The hard working people at Tesla, Apple and regular hard working folks around the US and not the continuous useless tirade that we see from Washington everyday
Watching that SpaceX launch was wonderful - it would be even better if Elon Musk and his band of super scientists could devise a method to bring that #Tesla roadster back to earth.
1
SpaceX deserves an enormous amount of credit in their success. Thousands of things have to work correctly just to light the engines let alone travel into orbit. That is no small accomplishment.
Next time they send a mannequin into orbit, they should replace it with a fully functioning robot and not tell anyone about it. Imagine the shock of seeing it start to move around. You could even have it scratch out an S-O-S. Or begin pleading for a rescue mission. That guy in the White House is so loopy that HE would believe it real. At least it would keep him occupied for a few days.
This launch is child's play when compared to sending people to Mars. The downside to going to Mars is that you have to bring just about everything with you just to survive. And you better get used to living underground---the radiation is deadly. I guess you could solve the sustainability issues but a far better return for mankind would be large, affordable barreries that store solar energy. That would work wonders for the home planet.
Musk says "...exceeded Mars orbit..." - maybe I'm a little confused, but isn't it a bit early to make that claim? Isn't Mars' orbit around 140 million miles from Earth's orbit? Even at, say, 36000 mph (the fastest any rocket has ever gone, so far, from what I've read), it would still take over 162 days to go that far. (?)
Of course the car is still close to earth but it now has the velocity to reach far past Mars' orbit. It has enough speed to escape earth's gravity and coast 242,730,000 miles (2.61 Astronomical Units) from the Sun. Eventually the Sun's gravity will pull it back in a looping orbit between 1 AU (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) and 2.61 AU.
1
I love it all. Even the Tesla hype. At least it is selling and happy truth to our kids --that if you work hard, have a dream you can succeed vs. what the White House is sending up with it's 'military parade' plans My only regret is that Elon didn't choose to put Starwoman on board.
1
Has the publicity Addict in Chief taken credit for this yet? He is surprising silent. Can it be that Elon Musk, a billionaire South African has Trump's nose out of joint?
This is just awesome!!!!!!!
1
MSNBC meanwhile led off their coverage of "immigrant Elon Musk" so I guess that is the new epithet wherever possible required by the left wing media. LOL
1
The test flight needed to carry some weight to prove its capabilities.
Brilliant to use his own Tesla.
Theatre, Art, Science, Humor, Rock n Roll !!
Goes to show you what a hard working immigrant from S. Africa (Elon Musk) can achieve if able to escape the evil clutches of the lazy, golfing addict imbecile Trump, his gullibles, and the republicans.
1
Dear Mr Musk - could you please fix Amtrak? Thank you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperloop
My high school years in the fifties were spent watching Sputnik go into orbit, building model rockets in my poor long suffering parents’ basement, and anticipating a world where we would explore the moon, Mars, and the moons of the outer planets.
After tremendous efforts to land on the moon and establish an international space station, we have a small company in California opening the door to new worlds.
Thanks for covering this. Such a magnificent counterpoint to the chaos of much of our daily life. The hope and possibilities offered are magnificent gifts.
3
I can't help but feel hopeful for humanity as I watch the live views from Starman's perspective. This is just fantastic!
I love you Starman! (Just had to get that out.) Have a safe, great flight!!
4
For Profit enterprises that utilize technology developed by taxpayers should pay at least something back to the taxpayers for the use of that technology. As it is now we pay for the R&D, For Profits then use that for free.
Spectacular! My only issue is that neither Musk nor anyone else for that matter, should be allowed to put more "junk" into space. He could have forgone the discarded car as a prop, as the landings of the tho boosters right on their targets was breathtaking!
1
It needed a dummy payload regardless though, if not a car then it would have been a block of concrete.
3
Wow! A roar traveled at the speed of sound. Science is great. What will they invent next?
Hooray for opposable thumbs, and the dreams which put them to use.
Those of us for whom the space program has always been local news are absolutely thrilled with this success!! The truly audacious genius of Elon Musk and SpaceX are breathing new life into area and into new explorations. Having worked for the US government space program, I can see that privatization - or at least a public/private partnership -- is the right way to get and keep this exciting venture going. Launching his own Tesla Roadster into space is just proof of Musk's genius as a dreamer and a public relations master.
5
I remember the first moon walk. I was just a kid and we were watching it on an old black and white television. It was so exciting. This is just as amazing and exciting. And awesome!!!!!! And to those criticizing Elon Musk I say "Don't be a buzz kill for the rest of us."
5
Melting the ice caps for a flashy marketing moment of Tesla is NOT COOL!
1
This wasn't just a marking stunt, this was a test launch. New rockets need to be tested, it was going to be launched any way. They decided instead of using the usual block of concrete they would use a Tesla as the dummy payload instead so this test could serve double duty.
3
Lately due to time constraints i get most of my news from WaPo, NYT and CNN. I was not aware of this launch ahead of time & thus missed it.
How about a little less focus on rump's tweets, sports and tv show reviews in favor of a greater breadth of news from the realm of science?
4
Are there plans for how to charge the orbiting car's battery?
2
I can't make my mind up on whether this is a beautiful demonstration of nature and Homo sapiens' evolution within it...
...or just crass commercialism (but I am tempted to buy a Tesla :)
2
It is commercialism applied to a grand mission.
So was Magellan.
2
Mr. Musk’s visions include humans living both on Earth and Mars. Well, we're half way there...
1
The "Don't Panic" label/button in the car is straight out of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Brilliant.
3
And I thought I was the only one who thought that!
They even put towels in the glove box!
1
"About seven hours after the rocket took off, Mr. Musk announced that a third and final burn had put his sports car on an elliptical orbit away from Earth and around the sun that extends beyond Mars’s orbit."
It can't possibly have traveled that far. What is its velocity?
It hasn't gone past Mars yet, its just in an orbit that will take it there in a few months.
2
He described the orbit. His car hasn't traveled very far yet.
1
The math for orbits was first discovered by Kepler in 1609 to 1619. You use the Vis-viva equation to compute orbits/velocity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vis-viva_equation
SpaceX knows its current velocity and the direction it is going so it can calculate the orbit, which is an ellipse. Starman will travel fastest at the part of the orbit closest to the Sun and slowest out at the asteroid belt. SpaceX hasn’t published the exact numbers or orbital dynamics but I found these numbers on the web, so don’t quote me. 36,300 m/s at perihelion (closest to the Sun and 13,600 m/s at aphelion (farthest from the Sun) or 81,200 to 30,422 mph. Elsewhere I found a mention of its current speed as 25,300 mph, all of which sound about right.
3
We need to have regulations regarding space garbage. I am sickened at the thought of a car or anything else we make floating around out there in our solar system. We have already trashed earth. I cringe to think of what we will do to Mars.
2
Please try to have some perspective on this. Our sun is one of 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers can see billions of other galaxies. The universe is a very very big place, and our solar system is already littered with space garbage known as asteroids.
That car is in an orbit around the sun. At any time in the next thousand years, we could find it and go pick it up. In fact, SpaceX has described plans for a vehicle to be used to clean up debris orbiting earth.
Musk did this to have fun and inspire people to look forward to the future.
5
Would have been nice to send a bunch of high school and college science projects around the sun instead of a piece of space junk. The difference between Explorer 1 which identified the Van Allen Belt and Sputnik which just shouted "I'M HERE."
I listened to Mister Musk wax rhapsodic, but his cliche-laden speechifying came across as nothing but a Don Draper-worthy marketing pitch, heavy on the Falcon, light on specifics. I was around when JFK made his pitch. It was far more inspiring. It was also a different era. We were in a Cold War competition with the Soviets. Now the US president is in cahoots with them, specifically his pal Vlad. We live in different times.
Along the similar nonsensical lines, Trump is calling for a parade of massive military mite marching down Pennsylvania Avenue as some homage to his "greatness", while our infrastructure crumbles beneath our feet. What kind of idiocy is this? Trump and the Republicans are acting like Amtrak. The Trump administration, and the Republican-controlled Congress, are running off the rails at intervals matched only by Amtrak trains of late. I would suggest Musk and other futurists concentrate on things more concrete, terra firma to be be exact, instead of planning flights of fancy to the Moon and Mars. Let's keep the innovation for now planted on this planet, Elon.
We've got plenty to do down here. Listening to Musk, I recalled a song by Barry McGuire some half century ago: "you may out for four days in space, but when you come back it's the same old place". True then, true now. We can't escape our problems no matter how far we travel. When we come back, they remain. But, it was fun watching rockets go up. "For What It's Worth".
DD
Manhattan
4
I figured that many readers here--some of them likely the same folk who hated Project Apollo--would denounce this as a stunt. At first I wondered by Musk didn't give the payload bay over to a science project, with the proviso, as he's said all along, that the first launch would likely fail.
Instead, he chose to send up his car. Until I saw the video stream, I thought it a bit silly. Now, watching "Starman" I feel it's just the moment we self-obsessed, phone-addicted, quarreling Americans need. It might finally be in our grasp to colonize another planet. I felt more exultant than at any national moment since the final Apollo mission.
I want to live again in an era where we trust science and a majority of Americans again believe it can diagnose problems as well as solve them. I want to live in a nation where no one takes serious stupid ideas like denying climate change or claiming the Earth to be 6,000 years old. I want to live in a nation that has a big shared vision that does not involve hating others. I want to live in a nation that again leads the way in the next new industry, as we did with IT, autos, and aerospace.
So I'll watch Starman while you chumps watch the DOW or our awful president. The future may just surprise you all.
9
Well said.
1
One giant leap for entrepreneurship and capitalism.
1
I believe it is vitally important from both a national security and commercial perspective that the United States remains a dominant force in space exploration.
Thank you, spaceX. Your imagination, ambition, and talent offer inspiration at a very depressing time. Per aspera, ad astra!
3
Brilliant achievement. But it’s uncomfortable to hear it may carry secret military payloads. The militarization of space will only spawn counter-militarization of space by our enemies. It will be like a sword of Damocles hanging over humanity's collective head. I certainly don’t trust Trump to use such a technology wisely.
I'm disappointed to hear so many comments from folks who argue that money spent on space should go instead to goals such as eradicating poverty and hunger or to providing clean water and air. As if by doing that those problems would disappear.
Space programs, both governmental and private, consume a tiny fraction of the GNP and a far smaller percentage of it than they did during the Apollo era. And private ventures such as SpaceX help replace dwindling support from governments.
The benefits to the world have far more than paid for themselves. For example, weather forecasting, communications, miniaturization of components, GPS, medical advances, ... The list is endless and it includes water and air purification and clean power technologies. And it creates good jobs on the ground as well as in space.
So what if Mr Musk wants to use his personal Tesla instead of a lump of concrete as a test payload for his new rocket? Should he instead sell the car and give the proceeds to the poor? Nonsense!
The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful since the Saturn V of a half century ago. And it's reusable! I say "Bravo!" Mr Musk. You are an inspiration!
72
It would be natural to celebrate this Falcon Heavy launch. The dazzling technology. The "fun" and "amazement." And all that. OMG, tears ran down my face as I remember Apollo, and the many launches in humanity's space programs. (What somebody wrote)
My advice: Don't bite. This is space genocide, plane and simple.
This rich man's toy is not going to do a bit of good for the human enterprise, and essentially takes another step toward earth insolvency and human irresponsibility, not away from it.
Launch as many rockets as you want. Put little red Tesla's in the nose cones. (Yikes, right!). Remember Apollo. Take the day off. Have some fun. Then, get your mind back to the job of saving EARTH, which is our only home. We have everything we need to repair and preserve this wonderful planet. And, there are now eight billion of us here. I wonder how many of those who will be left behind are all that excited about this launch, or the B.F.R. that is in the planning stages.
Want to celebrate a launch? Launch new initiatives to find and deploy relationship-based solutions to war, climate change, pollution, poverty, hunger, genocide, species extinction and violence against women and children. That would make more sense, don't you think? Dismantle all the nukes, and replace them global relationships. Build a global community with a culture that works for the benefit of all life.
Then, and only then, will you have the right to put your children to bed with genuine peace of mind.
23
So short-sighted. It isn't either/or. We NEED heavy lift capability to move forward with exploration but ALSO to save the earth. We need climate and surface observation satellites to know what is going on in the atmosphere and on land and sea. We may need large orbiting structures to reduce solar radiation to cool the climate. We would love to have huge solar panel satellites gathering clean power and beaming it (via microwaves) down to earth to reduce or eliminate fossil power generation. So many other wonderful technologies planned or imagined. None of this can be done without reliable, cost-effective HEAVY lifting capability. Thank you Elon Musk for rectifying the USA's huge mistake of abandoning the Saturn program for the low-earth-orbit-only medium-lift-only shuttle. Imagine where we would be if the Saturn technology had been continuously developed and improved since the 70's.
8
It is possible to work on more than one project at a time.... "solving" hunger and inequality can be attempted in sync with dreaming big and advancing technology.
5
I really do not understand people who make this argument. Yes solving problems here on Earth are important, but that's not the only thing we have to do. Is there really no time at all for anything else? Should we stop having Olympic games, Super Bowls or movies? Because people spend hundreds of billions of dollars on such entertainment, and that is fine, and I imagine you also think such things are worth keeping. So why then do you complain about a space program which costs a fraction of that and actually produces real tangible good, such as weather monitoring, GPS, satellite internet, etc? Heck even a Mars program wouldn't cost a lot more than this years Olympics Games and would give us a wealth of science and spin-off technologies.
4
Elon Musk is the only interesting billionaire. I see a career in politics awaiting him. Any person that can send a car to Mars has my vote!
2
It's a little sad that people are so excited that our space program is finally picking up where we left off 50 years ago. Better late than never.
1
Hi Dan. I am one of them. When I was growing up men going into space was a regular event with Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. As a people we were going places! And it was just the 60s for crying out loud! From the vantage point of 1969 looking back at the progress in aircraft from WWII to the 747 and the progress from the first human flights to the moon in 1969 thinking what we could do in the next three decades to 2000 was anyone's guess. 2001: A Space Odyssey didn't seem so much like movie but a realistic view of our lives (minus the monolith) when we grew up. But it all ended. And in the ensuing 50 years facts have already become myth to all too many people.
2
This guy should be arrested and prosecuted for dumping junk into space.
Why does this guy have all this money to spend on his ego trips?
Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg and all the other multi-billionaires should be taxed at a marginal rate of 90% just as “The Greatest Generation” was in the 1950’s.
Society at large, through our elected representatives, should decide how this money should be spent.
The War On Poverty is not over. I believe that we have not won this war because because we do not have a draft. In any war the government has the authority to draft people such as doctors who have special needed skills. I believe that people like Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg and other multi-billionaires have the specialized skills needed to defeat poverty. I think they should be drafted and paid the monthly rate of an E-1 enlisted man. I suspect that they would find a way to win the War On Poverty within a few months so that they could get back to making the big bucks.
RE: "dumping junk into space."
If you are going to be critical of science and engineering at least be accurate: the payload is on an elliptical orbit around the Sun, that extends out to Mars, and now further to the asteroid belt
...where it won't be any tribble at all.
2
This is not about science and engineering.
This is about wealth and power.
This is about who gets to control the use of a public resource I.e. space.
Does any clown who happens to have billions of dollars to send a car into space to advertise his car company get to do it?
Should Bill Gates get to decide that the wealth created by America is used to fight AIDS in Africa rather than opioid addiction in the US?
Since Reagan This is like the new Gilded Age where Robber Barons decide national priorities.
The 90% marginal tax rate did not harm the free market under Eisenhower. It will not harm the free market now. It will reduce income inequality and the forces that are tearing this nation apart today.
The Falcon launch was a passionate expression of American ingenuity and foresight. Try doing that with coal, Don.
3
Exploring. It's what we (human beings) do. To deny it is to deny an essential part of who we are.
I wonder, how many of those who are whining and complaining about the uselessness and waste of exploration of the type we witnessed yesterday owe their very existence to the fact that someone in the past resisted the naysayers and the skeptics and set out into the unknown?
I am sure at the time like-minded people were complaining about the great explorations or the great scientific inquiries in their times shouting down those would set out on the seas saying they had all they needed at home or that leeches and mercury were all the cures anyone would need? But there would be many who would not be where they are today without the explorations and scientific discoveries of history.
And they also seem to be forgetting Elon Musk's other ventures designed to release us from the grips of fossil fuels as if the only thing he has done is to lunch this rocket with dose of fun. And lest we forget fun is another essential part of who we are and why I abhor the "fun police" in all their guises.
38
I confess I had been hopelessly uninformed about Tesla, Elon Musk, Space X, et. al, but it was great to see all the excited posts in my Facebook feed from friends of all backgrounds from far and wide, raving excitedly about the launch. I personally couldn’t help but smile when reading that Mr. Musk is an immigrant! He clearly has a great sense of timing in addition to his other skills. Well done.
20
I watched the live feed from Space X. I carefully scrutinized the make-up of the crowd of Space X employees who were raucously cheering every positive step in the launch. I did not see one female or person of color. Moreover, most of the white males were appeared to be under 50, if not 40, or even 30 years of age. In other words, Space X seems to be peopled almost entirely by young men, which is why the principal spokesperson for the launch was an African-American female!
Does Space consciously engage in preferential hiring of mostly young white males? Or is such a demographic group attracted to this sort of work/career more so than any other demographic group? If the latter explanation is the correct one, which I tend to believe, it begs the question: what is it about working on spaceships and space travel and/or for Mr. Musk that is so attractive to young white males?
An old car pictorial in the 1960s showed a 1950s Ford pickup floating in Space with a red sign on the windshield that read FOR SALE! Supposedly it had first been seen by an amateur astronomer who was looking for a new planet. And while much was made of the discovery in the day, apparently no bids appeared on EBAY. But now we have Mr. Musk's sports car out there, guaranteed, and wait for the first bid to bring it back to Earth. What a world we live in.
Excited as I am about this event, I wish Mr Musk would spend more effort on getting more Teslas on terrestrial roads rather than in space.
This launch energized and excited me beyond any space event since the moon landings. While I certainly recognize and applaud the Challenger triumphs and share the pain of their tragedies, for some reason this launch symbolized something for me. Perhaps it is the sense of youthful confidence I see in the teams, or the youth itself...saying this as someone close to his 7th decade on this earth. But more so, I think it is the exuberance coupled with all of the SpaceX teams' belief in the future...it's as if they are saying to the world in a very positive way, "See, we believe in this, in ourselves and our fellow citizens...we can do and will do remarkable things...all of us." And they symbolize the growth of our citizenry, from immigrants if I must spell it out, to youthful descendants of immigrants; they are all people of one cause, advancing science and knowledge. A tip of the hat to all of them and Mr. Musk, you provide me with models for my grandsons; due to their parents' love and support, they have inquiring minds...you give them something more to inquire about, and aspire to.
32
the beauty of the science and sheer will to do it is beyond amazing but a whole waste of talent and money to me. tell me what good will it do for Earth? there's an old joke about the space program--it gave us the telflon pan!
1
So you think landing humans on the moon was a monumental waste of money? I believe it was humankind's singular most important technological achievement in history. Nevermind that the Apollo program jump-started the evolution/revolution of everything from desktop computers to cell phones. To me, using science simply to evoke/elicit a sense of awe and wonder and inspire an entire generation to achieve the unachievable -- e.g. building a rocket to land humans on the moon -- is justification in and of itself. I'm thinking of the money that was spent on the Apollo program versus a similar amount of money that was spent to wage an unwinnable war in Vietnam. Which was the better investment? What SpaceX is doing, by giving humans the capacity again to venture beyond low-earth orbit, is reminding us that we used to, and still can, achieve what was once deemed impossible.
3
Nice feat. I wonder how many people living in abject poverty would benefit from the money spent on sending a cherry red roadster in orbit around the sun using a big freaking rocket?
2
Space is no longer a just a matter of national prestige, it is big business. This is essentially a test run for a commercial product. It is therefore not a choice between launching a car or feeding the hungry, but between launching a bunch of sandbags (or whatever they use as weights) and an epic publicity stunt.
1
One might get realize that the traditional load for a test flight like this is concrete. The Roadster was just a silly replacement for concrete. Because nothing of value should’ve been put at risk on this flight.
Of course the exploration of space with a goal of getting life to other planets is the goal of SpaceX . The same way that the goal of Tesla is electric vehicles with power.
Both these one might think of as worthy goals that are both meant to help the survival of the species.
Of course Mr Musk’s Tesla batteries have been at work in Haiti.
Will all of Mr Musks dreams come true? Probably not. Is he pure as snow. Nope.
But then I’d be willing to bet that Musk has done more than most people this year for humanity’s sake.
2
We could already solve abject poverty AND go to space. It’s a matter of will, not money.
1
Amazing stuff!
1
Elon Musk makes all the other billionaires look boring!
3
If this is any indication, Tesla’s shares could go for the moon... or further...
Spectacular! Perhaps some may want to visit the gravesite of Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun, the German who came here after WWII and is considered the father of US rocket technology.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebrown1/26409695184/in/album-721576680...
1
Yeah, well the real father of rocketry is Robert H. Goddard from Massachusetts. As in NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center which was named in Goddard's honor.
in 1963, von Braun, reflecting on the history of rocketry, said of Goddard: "His rockets ... may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles". He once recalled that "Goddard's experiments in liquid fuel saved us years of work, and enabled us to perfect the V-2 years before it would have been possible."
Just sayin'
2
Mike L:
I spent some time thinking what word I should use to describe von Braun's contribution, but yes, on reflection, father was too generous. Goddard is not far from me, so next time I drive by it, I will offer an apology.
Fabulous! Show Trump what a true fabulist can do.
How about those boosters coming back to earth? 2points extra for doing that safely!
2
Andrew Carnegie built library’s. What will you contribute mr musk? Hopefully more than pie in the sky and roadsters in orbit.
1
Human being's long term survival depends on getting off this rock and finding another "back up rock" be that Mars or one of the dozens of worlds orbiting Jupiter.
It's not "if" we're going to get hit by a dinosaur killing sized asteroid, but when.
"Asteroids," tweeted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, "are nature's way of asking: 'How's that space program coming along?"
What has he given us? Maybe everything.
3
Like electricity for a hospital in Haiti?
How about solar powered cars?
Musk is actually attempting to make the world a better place. If you want to one up him and do better, I’m sure he’d cheer you on.
2
When you look at Elon, you see genius. If we had to have a business person for president, it should have been someone like this. There is just NO comparison
3
What’s next for Musk? May I suggest he send up James Corden to do carpool karaoke with Starman?
1
Quick, seal the boarders before more brilliant immigrants like Musk arrive!
5
Apart from my disappointment (shared with many NYT readers) regarding all the humanitarian (& environmental) ways Musk's $$ could've been put to use, I also find it disrespectful, even reckless, that more junk has just been tossed up into the sky -----while people applaud.
1
This was a test launch, it would have gone up anyway except using a block of concrete instead of a car. This way this launch does double duty, both as a needed test and as super effective marketing for an environmentally friendly car.
1
Rocket man must be very jealous
1
“We do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” And so JFK set us on a mission that produced several lunar landings, an international space station, but more importantly, advancements in science and engineering that framed our lives today. Think the miniature processors that run that cell phone in your hand, or the laptop in your briefcase. Pushing beyond the known in science and engineering always produces advances beyond the immediate goals pursued to the ultimate benefit of mankind. To those who think these private space ventures a vanity, a waste of money that could be better spent, yes we could have fed the poor, for a day or a few days. But when we open the door to new opportunities, we have the potential, if we remove the barriers, to feed them for generations. Bravo to Elon Musk who with his vision and determination is pointing us to a future where all is possible.
16
Sure, I wish my fellow humans would engineer a social system that lets all of us have food, housing and medical care, but still, I was thrilled.
It was the Cold War that got us to the Moon, but I do hope we can get to Mars with a permanent station in my lifetime. without that misery.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
2
The videos are something out of James Bond movie - especially the simultaneous landing. So cool. For once, pure aspiration, pure science, pure enjoyment and no politics. I’ll ignore the naysayers who are in perpetual denial of our fundamental drive to explore and push boundaries - in this case terrestrial - and take in the wow factor of real achievement.
10
Progressive and fun events need not be ignored in favor of domestic responsibility. This is not the reason for poverty. This is progress, imagine the amount of money spent on this project? The comments that think Mr. Musk should have used the money to support Earth have missed the point. He is supporting Earth's economy while building for a future of potential space travel. This is entrepreneurship and it is not the reason for inequality, poverty and environmental destruction, that problem sits in Washington in office after office after office.
16
It's space genocide, Jerry. Not fun. The worldview is very immature and, as far as I am concerned, immoral.
1
America has a unique ability to take in immigrants and make of them great people. Musk could hardly reach this height and potential in South Africa.
At a time when the pendulum of human progress in our world seems to be swinging backwards, when we are struggling to equitably capitalize on the gains of technological advancement and globalisation, this was a moment we could set aside our differences and culture wars and celebrate a fine achievement. It was not just an achievement for Musk and SpaceX, but also an achievement for humankind.
However, as I watched, I was saddened by the prospect that America seems to be turning its back on what makes it great: immigrants. As an immigrant myself who was inspired to move to the US to pursue my dreams, I hope America continues to be a magnet for the best and brightest minds in the world. A merit-based immigration system slanted against the less fortunate would not necessarily achieve that. If it could, then the UK and Australia would have more productive immigrants than the US. But hardworking people from humble backgrounds are often the most motivated and most hungry to succeed. Like the 27 thrust engines that defied gravity and propelled Falcon Heavy into the stratosphere, the sense of hope that immigrants bring with them defies adversity and launches them to greater heights of self-actualization. And that is what makes America great!
So here's to celebrating humanity, openness, and the breaking of new frontiers in science.
24
The take off was fabulous, but the simultaneous landing of the boosters was incredible. Reminded me of the early days of watching the take offs at Cape Canaveral and all the excitement of re-entry and recovery of the modules. How could it not? It takes an enormous and well functioning team to accomplish something like this, and they are to be applauded. Congratulations on a step in to history.
26
Inspiring to watch. Sticking boosters' landing was amazing! Go Elon! Congrats!
11
I think I would prefer to spend my remaining days in Camden New Jersey than go on a trip to Mars. But if you gotta go, then go.
3
I have been to Camden, I choose Mars.
4
To everyone who wishes out loud that Mr. Musk would have instead put a scientific payload in place of the roadster, please be informed that no producer of a scientific payload worth anything would place said payload on the first test flight of a new launch vehicle. They are sending this in a solar orbit - a scientific package that could survive that AND communicate some useful findings back to Earth would be, again, way too expensive and represents way too much labotr to put onto a test flight. It is simply a nonstarter.
18
This may be a scientific achievement, certainly a technological one, but being an American enterprise, it is also theatre and reality TV.
8
Any guesses about the payload of the next attempted launch?
3
One of his storage batteries?
1
Probably the model S next time.
1
Trumps' ego!? We now have the rocket for it.....
1
How about solving the MAJOR problems here on our beautiful earth first Mr. Musk. Spend your money (and make money) on that and you will be remembered as a true forward thinker. Help the people of this planet, not the very few that will be be able to afford to leave. Become a true humanist and think of this planet and all its too many people. That is the true story.
6
You mean like reducing use of fossil fuels with electrics cars and innovating solar technology by creating solar shingles for the same price as current shingles?
38
Early explorers are used to flack. Good thing Marco Polo didn’t chose to stay in his part of the world.
3
I consider this a great boost to our planet. He wants to do space stuff, let him do space stuff. There's plenty of other people on earth to work on the other problems.
SPECTACULAR!! SPACEX, I LOVE you guys!! With all the horrible depression that Washington has brought us this past year, you and Elon Musk are a brilliant ray of light, focusing on what America really is about! You remind me how it is to feel good about America again! While Washington drags us back into the dark ages of ignorance, bigotry, hate and war, you prove that there are a lot of intelligent good people in America still moving us forward toward a bright future of progress and peace.
28
I wonder, RF, if the 500 million children in the third world, who have no clean water, food, shelter or security, would share your enthusiasm. This endeavor is space genocide. Pure and simply.
2
Ultimately, RF, this is also just the same old, same old technological gimmick. If you are so impressed with this adventure and with Mr. Musk, why not write a worthy and authentic poem about them. See how intellectually and imaginatively demanding this is and into what mental and spiritual domains this task will take you. You needed go far into space to soar, you know.
1
I'm sure they will appreciate the satellite phone service that helps them coordinate their business, the weather monitoring that tells them when a storm is coming, the GPS that helps them not get lost. You know, all the space infrastructure that helps lift people out of poverty.
I'm a pilot, and my uncle worked in the 1970s on Viking Mars lander for NASA. I got to stay with him in Pasadena for a week during that project and visit JPL. I watched that flight today with tears streaming down my face, and I wish he were still around to have seen it too and all that is going to follow. He would have been moved as well, I'm sure of it.
20
Musk is my hero.
13
Musk does not care about you, me, or any of the other 8 billion humans on earth. He only cares about himself. Listen to his words, and look deeply into his thinking. It's all ego. 100% ego. Not my hero.
2
Yup, which is why he made Tesla to accelerate the advent of clean energy, or co-founded solar city to make green energy more easy available,
1
The Falcon Heavy is now the most expensive car commercial in the history of mankind, 500 million, telling you to buy a Tesla.
I'm sold.
14
It's too bad that they didn't have Trump at the wheel of the payload car.
26
couldn't have been done without D.T...All his hot sir got it out of the atmosphere. Only issue was he wasn't on the rocket for the ride.
4
Why not send up some type of scientific data collection probe instead of a mannequin in a car? Seems like a lost opportunity. For example SpaceX could have donated the payload lift to a university.
4
Because maybe a first launch of a rocket that, according to its' builders, had a narrow 50% chance of surviving, is not the vehicle to put really expensive equipment into space.
Why not use the test to speak to people's, and children's, imagination instead, and then use the now tested rocket for exactly those purposes in the future.
Sounds pretty reasonable, don't you think?
4
That really is pretty cool!
4
Maybe someone could talk the President into riding a Tesla into orbit for Musk's next Falcon launch!? After all, it would be the ultimate photo-op....
8
I have mind pictures of the cowboy General (?)/pilot(?) in Dr. Strangelove, seated astride a nuclear missile, on its way to land on its target after it was launched.
2
And as he imagines himself, I'm sure, he would be Emperor of the Universe.
3
Watching the launch was inspirational to me, I grew up watching the Gemini and Apollo missions, and the shuttles but it never grows old. But what was really awe-invoking was watching the boosters coming in tail-first to be reused. This looks like the future - its not SSTO yet, but it is progress when the US government seems to be willing to spend 50-times as much on the Pentagon as on NASA. We could have done so much in space with the Trump "tax reform" handout - we could have funded opiate treatment, doubled NASA's budget, paid for children's health care, spent $40 Billion a year on military readiness training... but instead we will borrow $1.5 Trillion ($150 Billion a year over the next ten years) and give 80% of that to the 1% and wealthier. While I personally will deeply enjoy my $15 a week tax cut (perhaps Paul Ryan can tweet about me...) I can't help but wonder if we have our priorities right.
11
This is nothing short of spectacular. Thank heavens someone on earth is truly looking to the future. Perhaps we can put our ecosystem-destroying mines on lifeless asteroids and preserve some of our precious earth. Perhaps we can discover future energy sources that won't deplete our precious earth. Perhaps we can save our precious earth after all. While not a fan of the Tesla bravado, I enjoy the views from the ship and hope Musk will enrich our scientific knowledge with each launch. Still we need to be mindful. Every action we take, creates a reaction we have yet to still truly understand
4
Elon Musk. Most savvy at finding investors backed by government funds. Good luck when interest rates increase and the government is broke. But, kudos to the amazing engineers those funds helped put together. They are the ones that deserve the credit.
8
Visionary engineers need a home where their visions and ideas can thrive.....Musk deserves credit for creating exactly that in times when, through (successive) governments' cuts and lack of courage, NASA no longer could provide them with that.
But yes, utmost respect for them, truly amazing.
Elon must get a big ego-boost to have his car out there in its own orbit. But largely it’s an expansion of the human junkyard. When will we learn that everywhere we have gone — from Antarctica to Mount Everest to space — along with human exploration comes human trash. It’s time to understand that human exploration can only make it worse. Please, just let it be.
Some will say this attitude is a Luddite return to a world before modernity. I’m good with that because then the earth was healthier and a healthy planet trumps an aggrandized humanity.
15
Most of the billionaires when it comes to environment or money they go for the latter. Populating humans on Mars? Are you kidding me people this is a ticket for the rich to escape in case Earth becomes uninhabitable. Keep dreaming billionaires dream America. For most of the people on this beautiful planet ... this is home so take care of it before it is too late.
11
Most billionaires own football teams. This is a step forward.
2
Even if it keeps degrading, the earth would have an extremely long way to go to be as inhospitable as mars. The idea that humanity, or some humans, could escape earth for a better life there is absurd - I'll bet on the earth no matter how bad or degraded it gets. Of course the best case is to not let it get degraded.
I find nothing admirable about a man with thousands times more wealth than he needs to live comfortably throwing it away on his very ex[pensive - playthings while hundreds of millions of people, men, women and CHILDREN are starving, shelterless, and dying of preventable diseases. . This is the most conspicuously stupid and shameful form of conspicuous consumption. So much so as to suggest that Mr. Musk''s real aim is to express his contempt, not only for the desperately poor, but the great majority of ordinary human beings who aren't rich. Mr. Musk is an excellent example of a man who grew rich but never grew up.
12
Well his conspicuous consumption supports my family and many others on the Space Coast. Our town was done for after the death of the shuttle. Now it’s buzzing again.
12
Boooo! Musk is an impressive innovator who's positive impact on the world won't be understood for years. In a world in which ostentatious displays of wealth has become a sport for the rich, this man is pushing us to strive for a better world. I cant tell if the numerous detractors are Luddites or just jealous.
And now, I suppose, you and your family are into conspicuous consumption. The American Dream World!
1
Beautiful thoughts here. We can't live on Earth without destroying it, but we'll live on the moon or Mars. Duh!
4
Oh how silly and fun it is to pollute everything.....life on this planet is dying faster than AI is being developed. The Anthropocene epoch will be the shortest epoch ever....but as the NYT so cutely puts it about global warming, gee, "what is going on here?"
2
You know Musk's only goal is to prevent human extinction? We can go Amish or we can go big. I don't know which is better but both are available.
9
I neglected to mention in my previous comment that I am thrilled that the Falcom Heavy launch was successful. Twenty-seven engines tied together and they seemed to work perfectly! Aside from the fact this rocket may not launch astronauts, I suppose very heavy satellites and unmanned spaceships instead -- what is going on with the Tesla Roaster? And whose idea was the astronaut dummy! :( Ugh. I would have voted for an empty driver's seat. Just creepy.
BUT: -- Is the Tesla rotating to even-out the solar heat? Does it have any added thrusters to help it into the desired orbit? Is it really playing David Bowie's Space Oddity through its state-of-the-art speakers, even though the speakers are silent in the vacuum of space! These are some extra details I would enjoy knowing. Just for the science and the heck of it! Great job on a successful launch. Crazy! Twenty-seven engines? Why not just three! :)
5
For a first launch they use a worthless ballast like concrete. The roadster was a funny alternative but functionally the same.
6
Love Elon Musk. He gives me hope that science and innovation will prevail even in the face of the ongoing stupidity.
12
Bravo!!!
5
I guess Musk missed the excellent Mars Rising series, chock-full of not just rocket scientists, but all manner of scientists studying the terrible effects of long-term space travel on the human body. It's an enormous obstacle unlikely to be solved within many generations.
He made a rocket and applied advanced technology to the boosters. That's very good. It just confirms that advanced computing is what should be traveling the galaxies, not humans.
I'm a space junkie if there ever was one, but to me Musk's projects reek mostly of ego.
5
Ego?
And 9 percent of US GDP to get to the moon wasn't?
It is ALWAYS about ego. It is natural in an age of individualism to have shifted it from the Nation State, to the person
Exactly, and he stands on the shoulders of giants in the US space program and NASA.
1
Watching the crowds jubilantly celebrating this successful launch, I couldn't help but reflect on how united these people were in advancing the state of humanity. Its a sharp contrast to what the Republicans are now advocating. Elon Musk is showing that w don't need to be defined by our paranoid delusions. Humanity is better than that. And if it wants to be, American can also be better than that.
9
Really? His company launched a rocket less powerful than the ones NASA used 50 years ago. And NASA scientists have carried out a great number of scientifically successful missions, both manned and unmanned.
2
Yes. And NASA did these amazing things at such hight cost, that it was basically starved of funding and slowly bled to death......even depending on the russians to take humans into space.
Musk might not have done something utterly new, but his company's way of doing it, and doing it at such a lower cost, makes the state of manned and unmanned space exploration much better in the US. Surely this is to be commended.
1
Yes, it is much cheaper to use others tech and dress it up as your own. Buying into Musk is like buying a knock off purse from China.
2
Thinking that we should spend less on this project and more on social issues can be short-sighted.
SpaceX is about lowering costs and increasing payload. When this is accomplished, it means that smaller companies can afford to launch satellites with SpaceX. This means that large corporations won’t have a monopoly. Satellites can be used for television, phones, and internet. I personally would like more options than AT&T and Verizon someday. The military is planning on a missile defense system in space but can’t do so now until costs come down. Institutions like NASA uses satellites to monitor weather and climate change. If NASA wants to put up more or better satellites, I wouldn’t want cost to be a factor on why it can’t be done. The US government will eventually save money with the lowered costs in launches.
The technologies of the SpaceX project will eventually be used in our daily lives. The demand for better solar panels from our space projects during the 1960s and 1970s rapidly increased solar technology. Material engineering for the SpaceX project will eventually be used in applications for non-space projects.
Lastly, Musk used the Tesla roadster for advertising. Why spend 5 million dollars for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl when he could launch his electric roadster into an orbit around the sun. The advertising in launching that roadster into space is reaching billions of people and is going to last for years.
14
Space-X has wrecked two very pricey satellites in the last six months. One of its chief competitors, United Launch Alliance, which has the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, has a perfect launch record. Unlike ULA, Space-X has also been heavily subsidized by the taxpayers.
Look, Musk is a great showman and he’s getting people excited about space, which is good for the industry, but 95% of their tech is over 40 years old. As a “commercial” company they have less red tape and oversight. Maybe that’s good. Maybe not. Either way, they are government contractors like all the others because that’s where the money comes from. Have no illusions about that.
3
I do believe the Atlas and Delta were originally developed as ICBMs, back when hurling 10 megaton warheads at major cities was the cutting edge in strategic deterrence. Neither was developed by the private sector.
6
Josh, who built the original Atlas ICBM? Not the government but an American aircraft manufacturing company. Government contractors- just like ULA and just like SpaceX. And by the way, Musk’s Rocket is also based on very old technology as well. He takes what we have, tweaks it a bit and his giant PR team does the rest! ...maybe ULA should spend more on PR.
1
BRAVO ELON MUSK & SPACE X !!!
6
I find Elon Musk's gesture frankly curious. Why anyone who proclaims concern for the betterment of society would send unnecessary debris into space seems pointless, at best. This self-aggrandizing advertising gesture sends a message that this new-age entrepreneur is as thoughtless about the universe as gilded age exploiters were about this planet. Mr. Musk's view that "silly and fun things are important" ignores the fact his "silly and fun" space advertisement is both rude and presumptuous. No one can claim ownership of space and there is already plenty of space debris from actual exploration. Mr. Musk's advertising stunt reads like a shallow and facile TED talk rather than the gesture of a serious man.
8
I’m not sure you realize how vast space is. Picture the entire earth, only much bigger. Okay. Picture only about 100 or so rockets going up there per year, and releasing satellites the size of cars. His rocket returns to earth. His satalite (car) is going to the asteroid belt. Space junk won't be a problem for about 1000000 years, and the earth will be burned up by humans long before then.
4
It's spelled satellite, Walter. And yes, space is vast but so did this planet seem to be 500 years ago, when Columbus proved that it had no edge. And, although humans may destroy this planets habitability for ourselves, it will likely circle the Sun for quite some time and perhaps repair itself. We, sadly, will be gone from it living weightless in unbreathable air protected by the large cans that we dwell in. We will be the space junk. Clearly the underlying reason why we must colonize space escapes you.
It had to be the worlds most powerful rocket, nurtured by a private company’s PR team, and a packed audience, scheduled at the time most of us are at work. Not one word of appreciation to NASA and USA funding, without which Musk would never have achieved this blast off; not to mention the deaths of Americans who pushed the boundaries of science for its own sake, because they certainly did not do it for the money. No, it’s all about him and a company car. We all know this story, of public loss leading to private gain, and not even an ounce of acknowledgment of the debt. And to this old welder and philosopher, the allowable payload on this thing seems next to nothing. Wonder why?
6
This was not funded by Nasa or the US gov’t. It was funded Musk and his companies.
7
This work stands on the shoulders of giants at NASA and US government scientists, who over many past decades have accomplished much greater things than Musk.
1
Anyone who is a "bboomer" may have read their parents' generation Tom Swift" series sci-fi adventure books. I never thought that I would see the fictional character, Tom Swift, come to life, but we enjoy our very own Tom Swift in Elon Musk, who is in so many ways bringing great adventures to real life. I love what this person does--inspirational beyond all imagination.
2
Oh Man has invented his doom
First step was touching the Moon
Now there's a woman
On my block
She just sit there
As the night grows still
She say who gonna take away his license to kill.
---Bob Dylan
1
It's completely insane -- send people to Mars? While the only planet we can call home is sinking under toxic testosterone-fueled technology? How have we reached this extreme of disregard who and what we are.
5
Funny he can put a car in space but can't build cars he already sold.
6
Proof positive that we never went to the moon. Do your own research and you’ll come to find that it was impossible in 1969. There’s a reason that Trump said “forget mars, let’s go to the moon” and Elon sent an electric car into space. Both are aiming for “firsts” even if the public hasn’t figured that out yet.
Citations needed. P.S Youtube videos are not "research".
8
I don't need the citations to know that this is completely foolish.
2
On the one hand our spirits, hopes and dreams soar once again with achievements such as this.
Unfortunately they are set against the background of our President, a man who daily plunges us into the depths with his shameful and uncouth behavior.
9
Quite impressive. We could use someone like this Musk to replace
our current POtuS -
9
You've got to admit. Musk certainly has panache. I love his optimism. I'll bet on him any day. Not because I'm certain it will pay off but because I want to support his endeavors because if they are successful, we all will win.
15
I think space navigation capability and space exploration are important for the United States and for the world — but for different reasons than Mr. Musk.
They are good for expanding knowledge and science, and potentially opening up new possibilities for extra-planetary resources and waste disposal.
But if we’re so far gone that we need to inhabit a different planet, then forget about it. Living on the top of Mount Everest would be a whole heck of a lot more enjoyable and feasible than living on Mars (and it would be miserable and exceedingly difficult).
How can anyone, let alone the intelligent Mr. Musk, think that humans can get along any better, and maintain a sustainable environment, on any other planet, when we can’t even do that on the only planet we have? If there is a glimmer of hope that we can do that on Mars, then we can do it on Earth, and we better get started soon.
While it is true that most humans want to propagate their genes through time with sexual reproduction, the notion that we should care to propagate some random humans on another planet – for the sole purpose of saving the species – is pointless and ridiculous. In the unlikely event that we still exist when the sun finally explodes, humans will be gone — on this or any other planet.
4
One of the very few news items these days which actually makes you smile and proud. Go mankind!
13
I am amused by the notion that Elon Musk's Tesla was put in orbit, like it's some kind of sacrifice. Aren't they *all* Elon Musk's Teslas until they're sold?
I applaud Elon Musk’s tenacity, boldness, and his ability to execute. A mission to Mars seems less deserving of Musk's attention or our tax dollars. A space race to Mars is something we (or any other country) really can't afford as it diverts funds and the scientific community from other pressing issues like sustainable clean drinking water or reducing carbon emissions. Not sure why we feel the need to try and find water on Mars when we can't seem to find lead-free water in our schools here on Earth.
4
In the late fourteenth century, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer put these words in the mouth of a narrator journeying to the stars in the clutches of a golden, not falcon, but eagle:
And y adoun gan loken thoo,
And beheld feldes and playnes,
And now hilles, and now mountaynes,
Now valeyes, now forestes,
And now unnethes grete bestes,
Now ryveres, now citees,
Now tounes, and now grete trees,
Now shippes seyllynge in the see.
But thus sone in a while he [the eagle]
Was flowen fro the ground so hye
That al the world, as to myn ye,
No more semed than a prikke....
(House of Fame 1.896-907)
Thank you, Elon Musk, for bringing some of the play back into space flight. Chaucer would have appreciated your sense of humor.
10
It was nice to see - especially 'mission control' a room full of male engineers - a place where you actually need the credentials and the smarts to succeed.
Alas they were probably bro's as well.
Just like: "How Silicon Valley Came to Be a Land of ‘Bros’"
1
Is that what you took from this accomplishment?
5
The COO for SpaceX is a woman. The company employs lots of women. Do your research before you make such comments.
9
A little defensive aren't we.
1
It's truly astounding what Elon Musk has accomplished.
8
Financing, that's all. If you think Elon did this you know nothing.
2
People who pay/finance/underwrite for such big projects, also do.
If they hadn’t done first—and done BIG—there wouldn’t be the financial foundation available for anyone else to calculate/draw/build.
Right, no imagination or engineering, only financing; anybody could have done this, it was easy.
Don’t all sounds travel at the speed of sound?
5
Right you are... point taken.
1
In what medium? Air? Thin air? Oil? Water?
1
The Falson Heavy does not hold a candle to the Saturn V. The Falcon Heavy is liberal, there, I am against it. Thank you.
2
Liberal? The Saturn V was more sucking at the government teat but you like it better?
1
An immigrant just made America great, again.
Thank you Elon.
19
We get the job done.
3
Yup. A legal immigrant,
Kind of supports the notion of merit-based or skill based immigration.
4
Was the Falcon-9 rocket recovery successful on the drone ship?
No. The fuel needed for relighting a couple engines ran out.
3
Congrats to Elon Musk and his team ! I could care less if he has an ego, and a wallet, the size of Mars. He knows we’re going to outlive our planet and has the vision to do something about it. Watched the launch from KSC today....I finally have hope!
10
There are some truly great men who do things that are posetive and uplifting to humanity, like Musk. Others like our hideous president, try to drive us all into the swamp.
8
Don't let this statement be lost -- Musk stated on 2/5 that plans for the Falcon Heavy to launch astronauts into space has been shelved in advance of a new rocket system to launch astronauts -- not sure what this means for the future, but I don't see much news about this except for the WSJ. Who is going to send astronauts to the Space Station in this new interim?
3
Do you even know who has been sending Astronauts to the Space Station?
4
In fact I do know. Our Russian friends. What has got your goat?
1
He shelved using the Falcon Heavy for doing a tourist run around the Moon. The Falcon 9 will be sending astronauts back into space at the end of this year.
1
To people who are complaining about this as a waste of money:
When the sun decides to flare up, and reach out with its flaming tendrils, Earth will become a dead rock despite anyone’s best intention.
When the next “dinosaur killer” finally shows its face, pass the orbit of Saturn, no amount of prayer (or Bruce Willis) will dissuade its headlong rush.
This doesn’t mean we can ignore the welfare of the rest of humanity on Earth right now. But capable dreamers like Elon Musk is the only insurance that humanity might survive.
9
I like the vision: millions of earthlings living in space. Let's do it! (No reason to rush for Mars yet, though. Let's learn to live in our upper atmosphere and on the moon, first.)
4
Congratulations! Thanks to all who worked on creating this marvelous machine.. I cried when I saw the liftoff; it was as exciting as the old days when NASA launched rockets and spaceships. I have no doubt that the results of this work will benefit all mankind. Way to go Elon Musk. Hope many young minds are seeing this and aspiring to do great things themselves.
12
Anyone remember the opening scene from the 1980's animated film Heavy Metal?
It was the space shuttle which opened incorrectly from the bottom but dropped a corvette with a driver in a spacesuit.
Science fiction lives on!
Congratulations Mr. Musk!
4
Yes, the United States space programme has become a series of stunts and joy rides by and for people with too much money. The heroes used to be the ones putting their lives on the line, not the ones writing checks (and their insurers). I wish Musk would come down to earth with the grace of his auto-landing boosters.
3
Actually, American taxpayers have shelled out about $20 billion on SLS and Orion. You've never heard of them? That's because neither has ever flown except a dummy Orion on a Delta IV. This rocket costs $90 million and carries more payload than SLS except in its most advanced configuration. Which isn't due until 2025 or so. By then American taxpayers will have shelled out more than $30 billion and the boosters will fall into the ocean after being used the once.
2
Great job, Elon! You did alright.
This flight and the rest of the private and governmental space programs give me hope for the future. I think humanity is going to have to start living on other planets because we may kill each other down here unless humans learn to get along, live in peace, and strive together for a better future.
Plus, I like the Tesla in space. That is until he cuts in front of my rocket someday!
3
Why do you think we would get along better on another planet if we can't do it here?
2
The launch made me experience again the excitement and pride of watching the Apollo launches as a kid. Thanks SpaceX for bringing back the future!
9
History was made today by people with vision and intelligence. What an amazing contrast to what is happening in Washington.
9
I watched and cheered today as the Falcon Heavy made a flawless ascent and as the stage 1 boosters returned to Earth as if choreographed. Kudos to Elon Musk, a true visionary.
The World needs more like him.
13
We watched this in our office today and we were just in awe. Seeing the two side boosters land flawlessly was also amazing.
Those guys are awesome as that is not easy!
6
I agree. Though I question the energy efficiency of the method, watching the two boosters descending side by side was an amazing sight. Rockets aren't supposed to do that!
3
Dear Mr. Musk,
Thanks you for reminding us to dream big, work hard, and have fun doing it.
That was spectacular.
Cheers,
Rich Stern
20
He’s the Howard Hughes of the 21st century. Minus the crazy.
6
Another step in the Ascent of Man.
And based on facts called mathematics, not magic.
6
Go Elon!
4
Headline: Panicked Elites Rev Up Escape Plans
5
I'm relieved to know that the thunderous roar traveled at the speed of sound. I'd be very concerned if it hadn't.
10
So it's OK for an American tycoon to develop ICBM's, but taboo for other Countries?
3
The last I heard, Musk wasn't making threatening statements towards North Korea.
7
This is going to be fascinating to watch. Elon Musk fires one of his Tesla sports cars into an orbit around the sun. Now let's see what the two other space pioneers do to better Musk. Both also have great aspirations for space in 2018. I am willing to bet we will be hearing from Jeff Bezos's Blue Orizon and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic to announce feats to equal or better than sending a sports car into orbit. And this is a demonstration that vision, chutzpah, brilliance and just hard work can achieve.
4
Was the comparison not telling? Kim Jung-un launches 4 rockets at once designed to destroy (impressive, and frightening); An American technologist LANDS 3 rockets that will probably help us take people to another planet. Bravo, and thank you, Mr. Musk.
5
The reuse of the booster rockets is truly a technological accomplishment. But why do I always get the impression that this is an an adolescent male with a lot of disposable income indulging his desire to launch rockets and things that go boom!
5
Watching the reentry of the 2 boosters and their simultaneous touchdowns I was reminded of nothing so much as the balletic docking scene in "2001: A Space Odyssey" set to Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz. Kubrick and Clarke would have been proud!
10
Sending a car up into space is not a bad thing, but just thinking about it tonight, I have realized one other thing would have been better: water.
In a big giant tank that would protect it from the sun’s worst qualities, and maybe some fuel and jet boosters to be able to nudge its orbit around the sun.
For us humans, that depend on water, you can never have too much water in space. More water will always give you more time, more margin of error, to recover from unexpected events.
Or if not water, breathable air.
Later on, somebody else is going to see, the cost is worth it, another mission to send up some more water or air, just in case. You can never have too much of that stuff on hand.
I hope this was joke you know that space is full of ice right
1
The launch was spectacular. The twin landings of the side boosters looked like it fell out of a science fiction movie.
I remain amazed at all at SpaceX and NASA. This is why we call ridiculously smart people "rocket scientists."
141
As exciting as this launch was, I will be more excited when, not if our country can leverage a equal or greater population of the best and brightest to solve the American agonies of homelessness, drugs, civil detachment and gang violence.
2
Elect more and more Democrats and that too will happen.
2
Oh for God's sake, it's not a political party that advances society and resolves problems but inspired thinkers allowed to exercise their talents.
1
Instead of the enormous cost to launch to Mars, why not launch a project to end hunger on earth, or provide all people with clean water and clean air? Why not a breakthrough solution to combat climate change?
67
Nice goals but we will never end hunger on Earth.
A solution to stop climate change? That sounds like King Canute ordering the tides to stop. The planet is too big, too interconnected, too complex for simple humans to stop it. Actually, our attempts could make it worse because of everything we don't know. Stopping one storm might start 10 others.
3
You do understand that a great deal of what we know about climate change would not have been possible without the ability to launch satellites into orbit? Ending hunger, providing people with clean air and water as well as fighting climate change are unfortunately at the mercy of politicians who are more concerned with getting re-elected than they are with helping people.
18
Great Idea! Go make a bazillion dollars and do that!
6
Very little has fascinated me more than seeing two rocket boosters land minutes from whence they came, undamaged, and in perfect synchronization in close by landing pads.
Mr. Kim Jung Un, try to be more creative than to launch multiple missiles at a time. That is so '70's.
10
Driving north in south Florida we noticed a huge vertical vapor trail to the east—we checked the news and yes, the Falcon Heavy had launched. I don’t know why I am so excited about this but I am. We humans were made to explore and test the limits. So kudos to Elon Musk and his SpaceX team and to the people of NASA without whose expertise this would be impossible and also to we the taxpayers who fund them.
We’re going to Mars, Baby!
9
I saw it go up and into space from my catbird seat at the United Club in Orlando late this afternoon. It was amazing and very fulfilling. Thank you, Elon. With all the numbskulls in Washington, you are truly moving mankind, forward. Thank you.
13
I love this!
3
It's a shame that as a foreign-born immigrant, Elon Musk is not eligible to run for President of the United States.
3
Pfsht. He’s busy. Pick some stupid reality tv star for that.
1
After a long dry spell, this afternoon’s soaring rocket once again lifted a country’s aspirations heavenward, and for a moment, people forgot the garbage in which the current leadership immerses itself.
8
NASA is going to soon go the way of the Dodo Bird and real space exploration will begin!
2
Um, you know that SpaceX only exists because NASA took a chance on the company in hopes that they'd get cheaper launches out of the program, right?
2
Question: is NASA the new PBS?
2
Congrats to SpaceX and Mr Musk.
You make America proud and yes, great again.
I have witnessed Space shuttle lift offs, the Soyuz in Baiknour - unfortunately, could not be in Florida.
But watched it live even though I live a few time zones away (12 plus hours) in India.
What I like about SpaceX videos is the cheers of folks in background - it's almost like a walk off home run at a baseball park - gets louder and louder as fans realize she is about to clear.
Oh, what a feeling.
And to think that SpaceX is doing - retrieving rockets to be reused - which NASA should have done years ago. Especially since NASA was using tax dollars.
And to have a Tesla in space.
Many years ago, we sent into space a small craft - inspired by Carl Sagan - that carried a message from a human race to those out there, way beyond.
It was all very scientific message etc that many earthlings would be unable to decipher.
But imagine those out there and way out there getting hold of this red hot Tesla - now any millenial out there would insist on driving it.
Unfortunately, no gas or batteries drained.
And those out there, way out there would say, "heck we are not the only ones who have these problems."
What a wonderful distraction to our daily squabbles - especially in DC.
3
Watching the booster rockets land themselves is truly amazing.
13
Throwing trash into the universe that will orbit the sun for hundreds of millions of years? This is the absolute height of arrogance.
5
But that's the good kind of arrogance. Like the arrogance of any explorer.
8
So exciting! Thank you, Elon!
I’m sharing this with my students tomorrow, this is truly inspiring!
3
I just can't help but feel that they could have launched something more useful, if only spare fuel for a later mission.
1
All the armchair engineers in this place....
1
Watched it. Bravo, Elon and all the engineers...you crushed it and all with a wonderful sense of humor.
7
Wow ! Truly, WOW !!!
In an age where we have little to cheer about, today's achievement by Space X is amazing in many ways. The beauty of the two rocket boosters coming right back to the launch pad, and landing as perfectly as any ballerina would, is not only a great engineering feat. It is a credo to re-use, recycling, and re-thinking of how we can create a better way to do things.
Big dollars and big risks ? You bet. But, today Mr. Musk showed us all that brains, guts, and true hard work pay off, not just financially, but emotionally.
As an American, I am very proud of what we all witnessed today. Keep up the great work, Mr. Musk.
11
Why did Musk do this? Because he could.
And because he could, there might still be hope that earthbound endeavors of similar vision will make us smile as much as seeing Starman at the wheel.
7
It is incredible what Musk continues to do at a price long time government suppliers said was impossible. Makes one wonder whether corporate greed killed NASA innovation. This should really make congress look at legacy suppliers like ULA and ask hard questions.
Of course the Auto industry said there wasn’t a market for electric cars either.
Makes one wonder about traditional power composite their public financing...
1
Today's launch gave me hopeful optimism about our country that I haven't felt since, well, you know.
9
Hopefully the Marians will be intrigued by the roadster, and come visit America! They may save us from the orange scourge.
1
This is good, but I don't understand what is so remarkable about it. The Saturn V rocket was twice as powerful and it was retired from use in 1973; so developed about 50 years ago. Launching a Tesla was a gimmick to enhance Musk's undeserved notoriety (in the context of rocket development).
4
Actually, incredibly deserved. What he has done in a few years regarding cheaper launches and reusable boosters is nothing less than incredible.
10
I am a cut and dry scientist, but the image of driving in a red car past a beautiful blue earth and towards the stars has filled me with excitement and wonder. It reminded me of a text I read a long time ago by Helder Camaro inviting readers to imagine birds flying in star light...
36
Does this mean that if we pre-stage tesla charging stations out there and seal up the roadster that we can just use roadsters for the crew vehicles? There's plenty of solar radiation, I think it works!
3
Elon Musk exemplifies the reaching for the stars spirit that America (and indeed the rest of the western world) is supposed to be about.
Trump and the GOP should note that Elon hails from South Africa.
24
Fair enough, as long as Democrats note that this and other Musk ventures are based on profit-seeking businesses.
2
Dems don't have a problem with profit - not even greed, realy. We have a BIG problem with *predators*, predatory capitalism/authoritarianism/socialism/communism/fascism/monarchies (which are always greedy - by definition, pretty much). Same applies to Crony capitalism/etc.
I can't remember ever hearing Dems put down profit-making, per say. Maybe you heard that on Fox.
Got it? Good. Now start paying better attention, and let's have no more of this straw man stuff.
8
Democrats go us to the moon, remember...
3
“Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators.” So... sound still travels at the speed of sound — good to have that on record!
10
To those of is who paid attention in school, this seems redundant, an unnecessary explanation of what we all should know.
But, may I remind you, we have entire cadres of people who believe that we didn’t go to the moon, that the Earth is flat or that contrails are filled with chemicals designed “to turn us gay”.
Amazing! Congratulations to Elon Musk and SpaceX for reigniting this Trekkies hopes for more out of this world experiences in "Space, the final frontier."
6
Seems totally pointless. Why send people to Mars? Just because it's possible isn't a good reason. The huge expenses could be far better spent.
3
People asked that question of Columbus, too.
I applaud the technical achievement, but the silly egotistical payload detracts from it.
5
What would you put in there? It had to be something that you wouldn't mind losing, one way or the other. A ton of bricks, to make it more interesting, right?
2
And it's not really a major technical achievement compared to what NASA did > 50 years ago.
1
The live image of a red Tesla roadster floating through space is the stuff of wondrous imaginings. Good for Mr. Musk and Spacex with its latest achievement.
My only concern is the danger that this particular payload is a harbinger of the traffic jams and other human-created problems we'll inevitably reproduce if and when we leave planet Earth :)
7
And soon Ronald McDonald will smile at us from the stars...
This is terrifying, not elating.
1
Must be nice to own and operate the world's most expensive toys. You build your own space rocket, you build your own electric car, you load the car into your rocket and deploy into space. You release the car to orbit the cosmos for a million years.
Must be nice to be Elon Musk.
6
Yeah, as a general rule richer is better than poorer. Where you going with this?
7
Actually, read the Rolling Stone interview with him. It sounds like he wrestles with his share of demons. As the saying goes, "Money can't buy happiness."
Kudos to him for using his money to inspire others, and advance the human condition.
4
"...a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators."
From my computer mouse, a soft click, traveling at the speed of sound, swept to my ears and beyond.
5
Inspiring. But reporter Kenneth Chang, please note your line, "Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators." That thunderous roar is what's known as a sound. ALL sounds travel at the speed of sound.
17
Come on Dean, you want scientific accuracy in a Science reporting piece?
(And for that matter, what exactly is a "turbocharged" rocket? Just more rocket?)
1
"Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators."
Team, the reason it’s called “the speed of sound” is because it’s how fast sound travels. All sound. Be it squeaks, cheeps, pitter patters, or roars (thunderous or otherwise).
It’s a bit like describing light as “traveling at the speed of light.”
We know.
Humbly submitted. I realize I’m being a bit cheeky.
But you guys are sticklers –and rightly so- for facts, redundancy, and language.
Best wishes,
Benjamin
7
Way to go, Elon Musk! Keep up the great work! I can't wait to visit Mars!
6
Hope, creativity and dreams are the fuel of human mind. Unfortunately we are living in a world where some people are willing to suppress all of them.
7
Elon Musk is like the Henry Ford of our time. Ford didn’t invent the automobile. He didn’t invent the assembly line either. He wasn’t even the first person to build an automobile on an assembly line. Ford was the first person to mass produce an automobile on a MOVING assembly line in order to make the car affordable to the masses. What Elon Musk is attempting to do is make access to space affordable. Very soon, a lot of private companies and not-for-profit institutions, like colleges and universities, will be able to afford their own satellites and space probes because of SpaceX. What they are doing could be as big as the Internet.
20
Very good analogy Mark. Embarrassed it has never occurred to me to make the natural comparison to Ford, when trying to explain to people the significance of what Elon Musk is doing.
3
1000 years ago, the Chinese used chemical combustion to lift rockets off the Earth
Musk is using the same technology---bigger yes---but fundamentally the same thing (as did the Wright brothers)
until we find an alternative method of lifting ourselves free of gravity, space travel is going nowhere other than a few firework displays.
If there was anything of economic value on the moon, (ie bringing a greater return than the investment of getting there) man would had been there decades ago
as it is, there isn't and we are not. Nor will we---we do not possess the means, or the industrial capacity to create the means--there isnt going to be an anti-gravity drive, or anything else. We are stuck here, thanks to the laws of physics
You cannot have a self sustaining colony of 1 million people where there's no air--they would have no purpose.
We must stop equating a Mars colony with the "New World"---it isnt like that
Musk is a dreamer---even his electric vehicles cannot function outside a hyrocarbon based infrastructure. )nobody dare tell him that)
Space travel is part of our "More" fantasy--there isn't any more
the book, The End of More (Pagett Amazon) explains why.
1
His technology and approach is more than adequate to explore and utilize our solar system. Cheap chemical rockets will make asteroid belt mining affordable. Asteroids contain wast quantities of minerals which are rare on the earth. E.g. a tiny asteroid can contain as much platinum as has ever been mined on earth.
If we can find a cheap way of getting this down on earth or utilize in orbit, there is an enormous economic potential there in cheap space access.
There is no laws of physics which demand an EV needs a hydrocarbon based infrastructure. Cheap batteries, wind and solar power will be able to met our energy needs. Polymers for synthetic materials can be made without fossil fuels, e.g. by using algae in biorectors.
2
Wow! This was better than the Super Bowl, and I’m an Iggles fan!
6
I have two thoughts about some of the "complaints" (really wanted to call it whining).
For those say why not do instead of wasting all this money on space "toys": satellites are how we monitor the health of our earth, coordinate rescue of people lost in the wilderness or at sea, share information between expert physicians located on different continents, etc. etc. Im not talking "spin-offs" here. I'm talking the direct application of "useless toys" to your daily lives.
For those indignant about Musk launching his Tesla Roadster: this was a test launch. There needed to be a test mass in the faring. There was no possibility of doing something more "useful".
Speaking personally as a former NASA systems engineer, I find it absolutely hilarious and love the sense of humor (particularly the "Don't Panic" on the GPS). This is joyful exploration and innovation. It's what life is suppose to be for. It's suppose to be *fun*. Not just mucking around down here in the mud all the time. Lighten up and enjoy life before it completely passes you by.
I do however want to complain that Starman left without his towel. Zaphod would be disappointed ...
51
One of the most thrilling things I've see in years! Brings back the heady days of the first Mercury flights, the moon landings, the shuttle launches. Since we seem to have lost the will to fund NASA, I'm glad to see that Elon Musk is stepping in to move us closer to the day when space travel will be economical and reliable, and we resume the manned exploration of the cosmos
10
As exciting as space exploration may be, I am concerned about the carbon footprint of these rocket ventures. How much fuel is expended in a single launch? Does it make sense to further erode our planet's health in hopes that some of its inhabitants might live in space? Why not put the money and ingenuity into safeguarding our beautiful planet Earth instead?
1
That is minuscule and of no significance compared to the billions of cars and trucks driving around every year. Seriously you are worrying about the wrong thing.
5
"Mr. Musk’s visions include humans living both on Earth and Mars." Why Mars? It is beyond stupid.
I echo Una Rose (Times Pick comment below). What about Inner Space? We do not need to go to Outer Space. Fix Earth and Humans first. How is that for a challenge Elon? Silly boy.
4
Because Dune was already taken. DUH.
1
B.F.R. must be a riff on Roald Dahl's B.F.G.: Big Friendly Rocket. Right?
7
Dual booster landing with near perfect barge landing. I had to work very hard to suppress a male sexual response.
Oh God!! Just thinking of those landings gives me shivers.
6
While our "government" is blithering, Elon Musk is accomplishing something.
9
And the centre core....?
1
Whatever happened to the idea of rich people building libraries, or financing malaria research, or even creating a new wing to a hospital? This is just a vanity project.
2
Vanity is Melania's domain. Maybe Elon should have launched her instead of his roadster.
2
Many do and who says Elon won't? He's still fairly young, not done with his career yet and most prominent philanthropists are looking to give away their wealth to charity once they are getting on in their years and realize they can't take it with them. Then again, Elon might be the one to build the first library or hospital in space.
5
It's about time we started calling Elon Musk by his proper name, Delos D. Harriman. This flight could have come from Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon"!
6
I've been wondering when that comparison would come up. Also check out the *first* Harriman story: "Requiem", a sequel to "The Man Who Sold the Moon" -- but written a decade earlier....
2
If you think Elon Musk *did* this you are severely mistaken. All he did was arrange financing in his own interest. *This* was accomplished by a whole cadre of people stretching back to antiquity. Some big stars, Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, even the Nazi Werner Von Braun, etc. and a 100,000 little stars, the fairly anonymous technology workers who carry out the daily burdens of making science work. Those 100,000 stand a much better than even chance of finding themselves on the scrap heap soon, self medicating with opiates as the very illiberal and repressive Chinese continue to ascend. The future for this kind of thing rests with the biggest pocketbook and the biggest computer. The Chinese already have one and soon the other. Not that I care much about that, the future for *everyone* looks mostly like New Orleans after Katrina, Houston, and the Gulf after BP. We are going to bring the Martian landscape here, not vica-versa.
1
This is “oh so boys will be boys”, I gaged on the ridiculousness of it. A red sports car as payload. Wow! It’s so adolescent it overwhelms any scientific intent or result.
2
There was no scientific intent beyond the incredible achievement itself. Lighten up!
15
A few points addressing the comments on NYT Picks:
1. Why not spend the money on the poor on earth? Because we, as a species, think about more than just ourselves - we think of possibilities.
2. Why not let government lead? Because which party in power wants to be associated with the launch explosions.
3. Children born on Mars will face numerous challenges, perhaps fewer than on earth, however.
4. At $1000/lb of material to get into space, 10-fold less than with the shuttle program, many more projects will be initiated (at the risk of more space trash).
5. Many aerospace companies will need to retool or merge to catch up with SpaceX, still a private company.
6. This event makes me proud to be alive at this time even if I'm not remotely connected to SpaceX.
38
Yes!!!
4
"Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators."
Seriously? Think about that description for a second...
2
And let's remember also that Elon Musk is an immigrant from South Africa. That's what really makes America great.
323
Except for indigenous people we're all just immigrants in the US of A. And those folks weren't 'discovered' by Columbus, Leif Ericson or anyone else. They were just killed and dispossessed by greedy invaders. Some of us remember and never forget...but most don't.
3
Also remember TALENTED and LEGAL immigrants like him made American great already. Not the inhuman mafia backed, ILLEGAL immigrants. !!! (dare you to give me a single example)
2
Yep, legal immigration is a great thing.
2
As a U.S. taxpayer I'd like to know how much the U.S. government is getting for the use of our public facility to launch the spaceX rocket? As professional reporters I assume you'd be concerned that rent be paid for the use of the facility.
Don't misunderstand I'm very interested and excited by U.S government space exploration. I want to feel as part of this space exploration but it's difficult to get all worked because a corporation launches a rocket into space.
3
Congratulations, Elon! Thank you for showing us that the future is something worth living for. I watched the launch live on TV. I consider my excitement at watching this spectacular event as the interest payment on my $1000 deposit for a Tesla Model 3 that I gave you nearly 2 years ago.
7
How refreshing, if only momentarily, to watch the news and see something positive and not hear about Trump’s latest shenanigans.
9
Bravo Elon ! Incredible success !
12
Stephen Hawking said humanity needs needs off-world colonies to survive the next extinction event, and Elon Musk was listening!
Imagine an extinction event and then we re-colonize earth in the distant future.
One day, Martians will colonize Earth. It must be.
7
Let us all stop for moment and think that Elon Musk should be considered a USA living national treasure, and celebrated for the type of accomplishments that used to take the might and resources of a whole nation.
God bless you Elon. And thank you for your boundless energy and creativity and astonishing accomplishments.
19
Remember, this valued American is an immigrant from South Africa. One of those -hole countries.
4
He’s here legally, unlike the Guatemalan who just killed a Colts player and his Uber driver.
1
So exciting! Another child of immigrants, right? Go Elon go SpaceX!
9
An incredible achievement although Musk's roadster does not rise quite to the same level of inspiration as Sagan's golden record aboard the Voyager spacecrafts.
How trivial our petty conflicts seem when we turn our heads and hearts upward and reach, quite literally, for the stars. We are reminded that we are micropscpic specs on a pebble floating through a boundless universe. We should all contemplate how utterly insignicant we are in the grand cosmos. A good dose of humility would serve us well.
On the lighter side, I assume the use of a mannequin
was the only way we could ensure that the passenger on this spacecraft would be non- partisan.
9
So has Trump taken credit for this event yet?
10
Of course.
It was really exciting and inspiring to watch this rocket launch, and to hear the cheers of those who worked on it. Awesome job!
However, while I love the idea of exploring space, I don't really understand the allure of sending humans to live on other planets. If we destroy ours, and have no other choice, ok -- but why live elsewhere than the best place in the universe!
2
Let's say for some reason 100 million years from now humans have no information about our current civilization. Now, let's say they find this thing orbiting around the Sun. I don't think they will ever understand why there is a car in there.
3
Just like we don't know what a 65 million year old dinosaur was all about. Given the universe is 13.9 billion years old it ain't significant anyway.
2
What a 65 million year old dinosaur was all about?
Seems likely that the central core rocket did not land successfully. Seems disingenuous to say it's fate is not known. There was a few seconds of it apparently approaching the drone ship. No big surprise if the central core didn't land successfully because with all the reinforcements then it weighs more, might have a different center of balance and so on.
Though, I am disappointed that they put a Tesla into the looping orbit rather than an experimental satellite.
1
The point of putting something on the rocket was for weight. Musk has a car company, this is great advertising.
SpaceX is not in the satellite business, so its not like they just have some "experimental satellites" just sitting around. And even if they did, Musk was quoted numerous times stating that there was a high chance that the rocket would blow up on the pad. So why would any research institution trust an expensive experimental satellite on an untested launch platform that had a high chance of failure?
7
Spectacular show today! While I have lose all faith in my government, country, president, congress, banks and wall street to do the right thing. You put on quite a show for us regular folk. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
18
The number of things that were invented to solve the problems of putting a human on mars will be immeasurable. Dream big and go to Mars, or go home. I personally am very thankful for what the dreamers like Elon Musk are doing for mankind.
20
No journalist at the NYT will ever smile as broadly as I suspect Mr. Chang smiled after writing the lede for this amazing, absurd and inspiring story. Thanks.
3
I am awestruck by the imagination and grand vision of Elon Musk, especially as contrasted with the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of the current occupant of the White House.
17
From the article: "Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators." What other speed might sound travel at, Mr. Chang?
3
Well, sound travels more than four times faster in air than water, so depending on the medium, it could be a variety of speeds. Just sayin.
The only thing I don't like about this is the space junk born of a red convertible with a dummy in the driver's seat. A poetic touch but just plain silly and it continues into near-Earth space the cavalier attitude we take with litter on our planet. 4.5 stars out of 5 for Mr. Musk's huge and historic accomplishment for that.
1
If it's really a new frontier, shouldn't the pioneer go first? Please Mr. Monk go first,
Congratulations SpaceX for a tremendous accomplishment. For being dreamers, hard workers, and engineers who got the job done. From every background, race, color, and creed. And doing so against so many nay sayers who said reusable rockets and cost effective space exploration could not be done. This team is truly something to be exceptionally impressed by.
12
For me, I could watch the SpaceX rocket take off again and again.The boosters returning and landing upright, with sonic booms - Awesome!
10
I work in the field of space situational awareness (keeping track of objects orbiting Earth). Sending humans to Mars is dumb.. It wastes resources and energy from our lovely planet and expends them on a sterile and inhospitable planet. Try building a community on top of Mt. Everest or at the bottom of the Mariana's Trench, which would be difficult but much easier in comparison, but likewise very stupid. I concur with Nathan below, " ... no matter how badly we degrade Earth's biosphere, it will ALWAYS be more hospitable to human life than any other planet out there."
2
US o America - this is what you have been and sometimes still are admired for.
10
Give us your tired, your poor, your brilliant scientists and engineers yearning to breathe free. I think we’re known for a few other parts of our past than just the orbiting red sports car. We need to get back on target.
for me this was the most exciting launch since the first shuttle flight. what a relief that this type of space flight is no longer dependent on what the government does or does not do.
6
Kind of. It’s a partnership.
Scientific missions are the only things we should send into interplanetary space, not cars. It is only a matter of time before we will have to worry about junk in interplanetary space, and this hunk of steel will be going around the sun at over 24 km/s (that's over 50,000 mph if the car goes into its intended orbit), and as more billionaires pull this stunt, we will have to account for their locations during real missions to avoid obliteration. This is a perfect example of why governments must regulate what goes into space and how often.
We have to remember that there was no worry about junk in Earth orbit in the 1960s, and today we have a massive problem that cannot be cleaned up, not with high energy pulsed lasers, not with fish nets, etc, despite studying this problem for decades. The space station has bumper shields to avoid orbital debris, and has to maneuver from time to time to avoid collisions. Satellites are starting to fly with debris shields. Soon we may not even be able to launch humans into space due to the risk of collisions with orbital debris.
A dummy payload could have been just DI water in a tank, that is vented once in orbit - comets are mostly water. Furthermore, no car can be stripped and cleaned like real space hardware. We vac bake piece parts prior to assembly, vac bake subassemblies and subsystems, and do another vac bake of the satellite prior to shipment to a launch site, and we make sure planetary missions are even cleaner.
1
A great day for putting the 99% back to sleep with sweet techno-dreams that neither they nor their children will get to enjoy in reality.
3
I’m still happy for the progress for humanity. I think it’s spectacularly cool.
6
What we are progressing towards, quite ambiguously, is a dead planet.
1
Let me guess... you didn’t get invited to the Super Bowl Party again?
2
Hallelujah for the sense of humor. Launching your own Tesla sports car into outer space. When we put an experiment on the Discovery in 1991, we had the best time. Go Mr Musk!
11
Men and their rockets ... the infatuation never ends.
And people starve all over Earth. I couldn't care less about someone accusing me of "having no vision." My vision is a healthy, sustaining Earth. It ain't happening.
Men and their rockets don't care about that.
6
Part of Elon Musk’s mission is a sustainable spaceflight system, including reusable rockets. His other ventures include electric, self-driving cars, a vacuum transport system and better solar panels.
I’d say all that works toward a healthy, sustainable environment.
10
A thing of beauty. Watching the two side boosters autonomously return to the launch pad and land safely was awe inspiring. The millenials of Space X did themselves proud today!
23
Someday, launching people into space will not be like this. Taking off straight up requires that everything work right. Horizontal takeoff is more challenging than vertical, but offers greater safety. One of the challenges is supporting the weight of the vehicle. Instead of building a huge, thick runway, a launch rail will probably be used, to allow the use of an electromagnetic catapult to increase acceleration.
The orbiter will be carried on the back of the carrier wing, as it will be too large to be carried under the wing. The wing will be powered by as many as 12 of the giant fan jets used on aircraft such as the 787 airliner. The wing will be so long that it will need support from bridge-like cantilever above the wing, which may incorporate an inflatable secondary wing.
The carrier wing and the orbiter together will weigh around 2.5 million pounds, about double what the largest current aircraft weighs. The carrier wing will haul the orbiter to approximately 40 or 45,000 feet, where the orbiter will ignite and test its engines before flying off the back of the wing.
This approach utilizes the atmosphere instead of treating it like an obstacle.
Payload of this launch system would be people only, as it is cheaper to use rockets to launch cargo. As many as 12 people may be carried on a single launch, at least twice as many as any proposed capsule design.
This is history in the making. People will go to Mars in my lifetime. My children and I watched this with amazement and excitement and awe. I hope they are inspired to dream!
12
This is simply the coolest thing ever. SpaceX's achievements, and most importantly, their willingness to experiment AND FAIL (remember all the tries to land the rocket boosters - each try got successively closer) is what makes them so great. With everything else going on in the world, somehow this really captures the imagination and inspires. Onward!
23
Mars, here we come!
9
You go! And don't forget to write.
2
Wish he'd put Trump on the rocket.
24
Preferably strapped to the outside.
“But this time, NASA was not involved.”
Wrong. Without NASA, this launch couldn’t have happened. Without NASA, there would be no Kennedy Space Center. Without NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other private companies would have had to start much further back in the development phase.
Most important, without NASA, the dreams of many young SpaceX engineers would never have been kindled.
So many congratulations to SpaceX, but remember President Obama’s wrongly maligned words, “...you didn’t build that....” all on your own.
52
Could not have said it better. Thanks!
3
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." --Isaac Newton (Bernard Chartres)
as a space exploration junkie all i can say is......YAAAYYYYYYYY. ps The boosters returned to earth safely. nice!
7
And a new era of space exploration begins! If you can't feel happy or hopeful about this, you're a sad human being.
9
We were young dreamers committed to losing a lot of sleep in order to watch Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions on our tiny tube televisions. It was an unimaginably exciting time because the nation was united behind a big goal, and even though the mission was fraught with danger, we felt poised to be part of something big enough to light a fire inside every human on Earth.
I shed a few tears today. For the first time in decades as the Falcon Heavy took off, the images of the Telsa with a suited up space mannequin entered orbit, and the twin boosters returned to land in perfect synchrony, I was filled with that same boyhood wonder.
It's not that the Shuttle missions, robotic explorers, ISS, and other NASA priorities have been unimpressive, but America finally has it's brilliant young people putting their hearts and souls into space exploration. Let's start that Moon base and then Mars please. I'm 65 and want to see it all!
Thank you, Elon Musk and team. You've started something wonderful.
40
Is that Major Tom at the wheel of the Tesla?
7
No. I'm right here at the house.
3
Firstly, congratulations to SpaceX!
Secondly, I learned today what the "F" in BFR stands for. It's "Falcon", of course...
A few additional points:
- space.com reports that the crewed missions around the moon are off. Musk has decided to put all efforts into the BFR
- I always thought that this was a red herring from the beginning, just to put one over Boeing/UAL for their - nidicolous - announcement to put a crew on the very first SLS rocket (born out of delays, SLS stems from the GWB era if you must know...)
- the fate of the core booster remains a mystery for now. SpaceX didn't have public pictures or telemetry, but there were a few "ooops" noises by people "in the loop", so one must assume the worst
- but that's okay, the 2. stage got into the parking orbit, that's what mattered. The middle core has been extensively modified, maybe that sealed it's fate - if there is a fate :-)
- putting "Don't panic!" on the dashboard of the Tesla warmed my Douglas-Adams-deprived heart a lot
- landing the two booster cores simultaneously - that was my favorite bit! These guys know what they're doing, NASA, Boeing and UAL should stop playing political games and help Musk to make humanity "multi-planeted" before it's too late. The dinosaurs never saw it coming, we will, which is bad if you can't do anything about it...
6
" I learned today what the "F" in BFR stands for. It's "Falcon", of course..."
I thought it meant something else, but I'm glad to have that cleared up. :-)
3
Wouldn't it be nice if he would stop wasting his money on such foolishness and lower the price on his cars so the rest of us could afford one? Instead of throwing one away, why not give it away?
3
Wonderful odyssey, immigrant's entrepreneurship at it's finest. Although most immigrants, authorized or not, are a plus for American society, there are exceptions to the rule, witness the vulgar bully in the White House staining our non-racist stock.
6
Elon Musk is a LEGAL immigrant. Do not conflate ILLEGAL aliens/ immigrants with legal immigrants.
We are a nation of immigrants here in the USA. LEGAL immigrants. Nobody is against immigrants here. The contention is illegals. Know what you are talking about before posting, or trying to instigate hatred or confusion here.
2
I hope your Deck ancestors legally immigrated from Germany. Or does that make you a Dreamer.
1
May I assume, Jason, you are unaware the U.S. immigration system is broken, nor allowing enough needed workers to come in legally, and do what you nor I are capable or unwilling to do, menial jobs, or difficult and hazardous services you and million others depend on, freeing us to do higher and better paying things, and at the same time taking for granted we have fruit and vegetable pickers so markets have what you need; hospitals/nursing homes/hospice/slaughterhouses//construction/hotel/restaurant /baby-sitting/etc, low wage earners making life for the rest of us more comfortable...if not indispensable. Their contribution to American society is enormous even when some, out of willful ignorance, choose to ignore, even belittle their hard work. Did I mention they get no health insurance, no sick days, no vacation, and no retirement; and all for a paltry 'salary'. Would you at least consider that those you call 'illegal', and I assume unwanted in your neighborhood, all share our common humanity, so to allow some justice, if not love, for what they do to make our life better? Those folks have my admiration and respect, however undocumented they may be; and on this Earth, no one can be considered illegal; no way Jose'.
1
The launch took my breath away. Loved hearing the SpaceX employees cheering during the launch. How awesome would it be to enjoy that much excitement at work?
Forget the Space Launch System. Between the Delta IV Heavy and the Falcon Heavy, America has the heavy lift capability necessary to assemble a craft in space that could make a round trip to Mars. All it takes is the political will to get it done. Or do we want the first flag on Mars to be Chinese?
7
While the launch today is impressive and something to marvel at, I can't help but be reminded of a quote from Einstein with regard to your last statement:
"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It's the measles of mankind."
4
And since we are still infants, we are stuck with it.
I read this story with a sense of awe. Mr. Musk is a visionary who combines pizazz with a sense of humor. He is leading the way "where no man has gone before." Continued success and may Uranus speed your journey Mr. Musk!
4
This is a great article! Nice job Kenneth Chang!
6
A truly amazing accomplishment. Those boosters coming back and each landing in a three point vertical position was just...cool. It makes me sad to think the Falcon Heavy was launched from the same pad as the Apollo missions, and that this project doesn't belong to NASA. I can't help but wish for the imagination and determination (and funding) that used to belong to the space program. Where has it gone? Lost in Iraq, lost in tax cuts for rich corporations, lost in restocking nuclear weapons...lost in the nihilism of the Republican party.
7
A giant leap for Mankind.
8
While some might say the waste of money is irresponsible, and could be better spent on research for medicine, disease, helping poverty - one has to remember this quote from Carl Sagan:
"Some 5 billion years from now, there will be a last perfect day on Earth... then the sun will begin to die, life will be extinguished, the oceans will boil and evaporate away."
Knowing the way we humans argue, quarrel, and question each others motives, it will likely take that long for us to develop the technology, and culture to ensure this planet and local solar system is not our last. If we do not cause our own self destruction (which scientists say is highly likely given 5 billion years) - I think it will be to some credit that the very first steps to get this started are within most of our lifetimes (or the lifetimes of our parents and grandparents). These first steps, are just the first of billions.
3
A thunderous roar--traveling at the speed of sound, you say! Gasp.
2
More space garbage, in the form of an automobile in space, to satisfy the ego of an egotistical billionaire who just had to but his brand on the universe. Disgusting!
2
Lighten up, Norm, it’s progress! Now let’s have a beer someplace everybody knows your name...
1
I am looking forward to see human race landed safely in Mars. Thank you Mr Musk and SpaceX! We stand on the shoulders of giants!
2
What would an alien think if they found that car? What is this symbol 180? It must be a speed gauge, if they go any faster they turn into plastic.
2
Seriously people? No aliens are going to find anything. It’s not that we are the only frogs in this universe. It’s that all our puddles are so incredibly far apart.
Pretty sure that Elon Musk is an extraterrestrial. Has to be, right? :)
3
God bless Elon, his rocket shows the power of immigrants to energizing our country. Wish Trump were in that Tesla!
3
He’s a legal immigrant. That’s all we’re asking!
1
Good for you, Musk! Keep it up.
3
Sending a car into space is unconscionable. Just how much carbon got burned doing this? Elon Musk ought to be required to do some community service.
2
Elon Musk is the real life Willy Wonka.
All hail the music makers. All hail the dreamers of dreams.
8
Elon Musk is a National Treasure!!!!
3
The soviets got the first satellite, the first dog (it died), and the first human (it lived) into space, before President Kennedy decided we would catch up by being the first to walk on the moon. We did this with Apollo 11 in 1969 and the Saturn V rocket.
The Saturn V was bigger than the Falcon Heavy.
In 1969, nobody would have considered sending a large inanimate object into space just for publicity. Times have changed.
We the People (NASA) launched Saturn V rockets with dummy payloads, just not sports cars. It has to be done for test flights.
Would you feel better if he loaded it with Pineapples?
6
While the success of the launch is exciting, must we really litter in space, too?
1
I greatly enjoyed watching that rocket roar into space. I would have enjoyed it much more, however, if it were Trump in the driver's seat of that gorgeous Tesla automobile, rather than a test dummy.
7
Yes, another one of those "dangerous" immigrants, born abroad showing Americans how to expand business horizons. In Elon Musk's case, he was born in South Africa in 1971, launched Tesla Motors and now his Tesla roadster into space..
Under new draconian immigration laws, proposed by the GOP, he might never have been admitted to the USA at all.
2
LEGAL immigrant you mean to say. One with skills to offer such as proposed for a merit based immigration system?
Of course he would be admitted.
The opposition and argument is against illegal immigration, but you knew that before posting.
Kudos Mr. Musk.
4
Any fool can kick a barn down, it takes a man of vision to design and build one. Elon Musk is a man of vision. Many of his other projects are just as exciting as this one.
Keep it up, Elon.
4
Like many other commenters here I had reservations but after viewing the launch and successful return and landing of the boosters and center transport rocket I am very, very impressed.
The resourcefulness and ingenuity of all involved at SpaceX clearly demonstrates:
-The feasibility of recycling launch vehicles to reduce costing.
-Combining multiple boosters to realize greater payload capacities and the flexibility this provides.
-The ingenuity and nimbleness of the private sector as opposed to the massive administrative behemoth that is NASA.
Major Congrats to Elon Musk and all at SpaceX
2
It is said that Isaac Newton, one of the most brilliant scientists ever, would not be able to come up with inventing the radio(for ex.), even if he had all the sharpest minds and all monetary resources of his time at his disposal. Mostly because the science he needed was not available at that time - the building blocks to invent and operate a radio did not exist.
Similarly, at one point in the (distant?)future humanity (or some of them) will need to leave this planet - pick your catastrophic event..
Right now we do not have the technology to evacuate the planet(or part of the planet) - actually we are very far from accomplishing that..
So the funding and steps that NASA, SPACEX, etc. are now taking will be the building blocks for future generations to build their (real)Noah's Ark and try to give a chance for life as we know it, somewhere else.
Cheers,
92
That's depressing.
2
The best thing we could to for this planet is not to seek a way off it. That would ensure that we are all vested in its future and survival. As long as rich people can entertain a fantasy of leaving if it all goes to pot, they will not mind if their present wealth accumulation endangers the very life support infrastructure on which all life depends.
I'm not saying we should abandon science or not try to understand the universe, but establishing a remote colony as a survival strategy is selfish and irresponsible to all the other life on this planet. Not to mention the 99.999+% of humanity who could never afford to leave the planet on their fancy SpaceX vehicles.
3
Ana and Francisco - I agree with both of you. Hopefully Francisco we will only need to leave the planet in the future to satisfy our sense of exploration and or when we know that the Super Nova is impending. Not because we've trashed the place so bad. And Ana, may your offspring some generations removed be out there exploring not just a new planet but a whole nuther glaxay so far away that we confuse it now with just a star in the night sky. Whoa, the sights they will see and the stories they will tell. I get goosebumps!
2
All I see is a billionaire businessman feeding his small ego. Mars is a dead barren planet. The cost of having human beings living there will be in the trillions of dollars for what? Anyone who seriously thinks that Mars is an alternative to a damaged Earth is reading too many comic books. These are the same people spending a small fortune to find extraterrestrial life, ignoring the absurd time/space issues of crossing paths with an advanced civilization if it even exist at all.
4
Here we have a beautiful planet, supposedly a self sustaining one. How many of us will come to believe that space travel will save us from our self (earth) destructive activities? Because new planets, or others like Mars will offer refuge or new resources? This is not an anti-science stance - it is about where we can optimize our resources to better planet earth.
6
With such a fantasy planted firmly in the brains of the masses, who needs to really *do* anything about a dying planet? Record Co2 last year while people marvel at photocells on telephone poles.
2
I deeply hope that this inspires American government officials to put some MORE MONEY INTO SCIENCE AND SPACE EXPLORATION. Enough military spending. Let's actually make America a better place.
5
How many tweets do you think it will take before Trump tries to take credit for this? A magnificent achievement by Musk and his team. Pity this group isn't running the White House :--)
7
Reading comments, I feel sad that not all can find something to celebrate. The first time a dog was sent to space, almost everyone thought it was a huge technical achievement even including Americans. Today there is something other than Trump to talk about. Thanks, all those who contributed to this success!
7
Elon Musk is a shining example of how our nation benefits from immigration. Rather than the demeaning characterizations that our "president" uses to describe immigrants, and other minorities, we should see the truth from Elon, and many others who came to our shores willingly, to help us form a more perfect union. Immigrants are our nations best resource in a time when our birth rate is declining, and other first world nations are now competing with us on the basis of quality of life, and benefits of a free society. We have for too long taken for granted that our country would always attract the best and brightest; which was easy, when we were the only store at the mall; but times have changed, and so have attitudes about our country, and the "quality" of life here. Elon is by far a better role model for our young people than our "president" ever will be, let's not forget that he is an immigrant, and a damned fine one, at that!
5
This whole spacex process just seems like it is the next generation of space flight... russian orbital satellites, laika, gagarin, tereshkove etc.. then the apollo missions... skylab... mir... space shuttles/hubble/international spacestation... now this... citizen space, been a long journey
1
This is the Moon Mission for the Millennials.
GO TO THE MOON, kids!!!!
Then go to Mars!
then to Earth and fix things...
Good Luck Elon.....
1
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, Ignition .... Go Go Go and take our imagination and our hopes for a brighter and higher future with it ...
2
This restores my faith in what’s truly amazing about our nation and the American spirit. This is why no one needed to make us “great again,” we remain a nation of great vision, ingenuity, and moxie. Thank you to all the thousands of men and women who made this possible.
3
Free Tesla*
*Delivery not included.
2
We haven't heard much protest over private companies plans to do crazy things like mine asteroids, which if they screw it up could get us all killed.
One would hope for some restraint when it comes to existential planetary risk.
3
In 1954, at the age of eight, I read my first SF novel, Heinlein's "Starman Jones", about a farm boy who runs away from home, watches a space launch, and eventually becomes a "Starman". The dreams that story inspired kept me, and many other engineers, going for a long while.
For years now, I've been thinking those dreams had died. Now, watching this launch, I feel those dreams stirring and coming to life once again. Seeing those two boosters landing, side by side, moved me to grateful tears. I felt like that young farm boy watching rockets going up and coming down.
Thanks and congratulations to Elon and all the SpaceX engineers for the dreams, the vision, and the skill and perseverance to make them real. Engineers rock!
15
Now the U.S. needs to wake up stop putting TRILLIONS into the military and put the money into space exploration, humans are like a virus and expand to the limits of their environment. Curate this planet sure, but get an extra-terrestrial focus for the species!!!!!!
1
The US doesn't spend trillions on the military, it spends a bit less than 600 billion a year. While not moderate by any means, they still don't spend trillions.
Space X was founded 16 years ago. If the U.S. spends 600 billion a year on military, it spent almost 10 trillions during Space X's lifespan alone.
2
And the roughly $600 billion is more than is spent by the next 6 countries (includes Russia and China) combined. The "trillions" comes from how the US budget is evaluated ... a 10-year horizon.
Ah, America! Where every little boy can grow up to be a little boy.
7
I used to live about an hour-and-15 minutes drive from Kennedy Space Center, and I NEVER got tired of seeing (from my front yard) the shuttles and other rockets launching or hearing the twin sonic booms that heralded the shuttle's return. The Saturn Five on display there is just MASSIVE. What a thrill to watch today's launch with the people in KSC going nuts with elation. I recommend the documentary Fight for Space on iTunes where former astronauts, physicists and others pretty much lament that we spent so many decades in low-earth orbit (not that this rocket junkie has regrets) instead of doing work along the lines of the Falcon Heavy that will allow true exploration.
3
I watched it live from my dock in Orlando and it was breathtaking. Much brighter flame and moving faster than the Shuttle launches we had become so used to seeing over the decades.
That it all went so well on its first flight, and with the astoundingly perfect landing of the booster rockets - just remarkable.
A truly exciting and optimistic moment amidst all the gloom that has permeated our daily lives of late.
17
Best of luck Elon!
Another example of how legal, skilled immigrants contribute to the economy and technological progress of this country!
7
Bravo Elon Musk and to you for your comment.
1
Amazing. Godspeed John Glenn.
3
This payload is an insult to the United States space program and the thousands of people who created and improved NASA. What a waste of private resources and public NASA infrastructure. Explorer (one of the early satellites?) used less than 15 watts of power to tell us about Pluto. This car will only tell us how full of himself one person is.
4
Why would you put anything important inside a rocket on it's test flight?
2
Nonesense! The first Saturn payload was a load of sand. You don't risk expensive space-qualified instruments on the first flight of an experimental booster!
8
This is a win for the human spirit, against the slagheap of pessimism we find ourselves in.
13
A miracle of rare device...
Pad 39A and a huge rocket.
What a maneuver. The unapologetic ego of a rich man with the same dreams we all had as kids in the 60's. Adventure. Discovery. Humans in space.
Life got boring, so I launched my electric car to Mars from the same place I saw human beings head to the moon to a soundtrack of David Bowie.
How fantastic that someone, somewhere has imagination, and hasn't forgotten what drove some of us to become engineers, scientists, discoverers. Who among us didn't want to plant his own boot on the moon? Who among us was satisfied where he was and never looked up and wondered?
To have the audacity - the sheer will to do something so over the top - it inspires an entire generation.
It rekindles the spark. It restores faith. It's not all war machines and financial markets.
We can build amazing, crazy things.
If things get dull, launch your red electric car to Mars.
Life is good.
10
Wonderful!
Just think about it: that cherry red Roadster someday may be the only object that indicates the human race ever existed!
7
That and the odd debris field between Venus and Mars....
I watched the launch on MSNBC, and the host, Ali Velshi announced that rather than covering the White House briefing, the network would be covering the launch of Falcon Heavy.
For me, it was infinitely preferable to watch the launch of a rocket that will advance space exploration than to listen to the blatherings of Sarah Huckabee Sanders! Thanks to MSNBC for recognizing what's important!
43
"Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators". Yes, that is what sound likes to do: travel at the speed of sound.
2
I thought that President Obama was nuts in 2010 when he cancelled the Space Shuttle program, but in doing so he set loose the process that resulted in the success of the Falcon Heavy launch we saw today. He constrained a government program and turned it over to private development. In another time, Obama would have been considered a moderate, capitalist Republican, but that party has moved so far to the right, he looks like a liberal from their warped viewpoint.
8
I know, right? Obama is just a Rockefeller Republican.
This American Feat, this America, is what this American By Choice identifies as representative of America, the American Spunk, and American Drive and Innovation.
9
There are so many good, needy charities that could use the billions spent on these rich men toys and projects to actually help people and our planet. As for awe, wonderment and magic, I feel plenty of them at the thought of a planet at peace, people living without poverty , hate and crime, with safe and abundant nature and animal species. There's much to love, to work towards, and be awed here on earth.
This project is too much like immaturity, in my opinion, to be pinning humanities hopes on living on Mars, when we are living on a planet full of people, animals, nature and ideas crying out for attention, assistance and value. Boys will be boys, I guess, but isn't it time they grew up and developed and supported an adult sense of wonderment? I can definitely understand and support the critism here.
77
We don't quite know where it will lead. But it is just brilliant, to conceive of such a thing and actually get it done. It is not a zero sum game. Technologists and visionary creators like Musk are just what we need to solve the problems on earth. As the attempt to colonize Mars proceeds, we will be even more acutely aware of the wonder and beauty of the the Earth. Let's be optimists.
9
Excellent points which we should be focused on as well; still would we be as advanced as we are today, if we did not have that need to get on "... the road to find out", Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman.
6
The way Science works, Elon may just be solving the problems of the world. Just you wait.
8
I also had tears in my eyes and flashbacks of watching the Apollo (and earlier) launches from grade school. Full congratulations to all involved, and done with such class and fun.
However, I don't understand the need to black out the news of the central booster, which is presumed lost. We all participated in every part of the risk and reward of seeing such a successful launch, why insult our intelligence by not just informing us that they successfully recovered two out of three? They've lost boosters before and came back stronger than ever.
5
The amount of money to be made from colonizing our slice of the solar system is astronomical. Whomever achieves this feat will be the richest person ever, so do we really want this to be a private endeavor when in reality it's public funds that are the true source of the opportunity.
For me, the booster landings were most impressive, though SpaceX has done that already. Find it hard to join the football cheer though. As a contractor I got a look at how NASA wastes money like DoD with not doing stuff right the first time, multiple backup programs, and games to keep things looking all right and on time and all their installations open. My small participation in their manned flight program was, IMO, a waste of time.
Prior I'd visited Space Center Houston. We were shown the big swimming pool, mockups, etc., but no justification for the ISS, except to finish it for budget's sake. What's so important about what the astronauts and cosmonauts are doing up there? That was unanswered. But there were poster boards explaining how we'll be mining meteorites for fuel.
Not sure what rocket the Webb telescope will ride, but it's earth satellites and robotic exploration that excite me. Musk's technical feat here is awesome, no question, but I don't get space tourism by/for the 1% thing or sending people to Mars when we're wrecking Earth much faster. Tesla's charging stations down here are the right idea. If Musk brought cheaper electrics to the masses so California could reach its pie-in-the-sky emissions goals, that would surpass these other accomplishments.
Imagine what we could do if we funded Earth & space exploration as well as we did the equipment responsible for killing each other?
8
Whether or not you believe that this is a worthwhile and legitimate pursuit, it does remind me of how universally viewed and spellbound we all used to be at the NASA launchings. It's quite sad that this is no longer something for the public to support, and I wonder why Trump and his lackeys who are such strong supporters of privatization are nowhere to be seen today regarding the rocket launch. I have an idea though: if only the capacity to send a man to Mars could be speeded up, and a passenger could be on board, say a powerful figure like the President of the United States, instead of planting a flag on Mars like we did on the moon, maybe we could simply leave that very powerful figure there. The biggest, the best, the most powerful symbol of American ingenuity.
6
"Then a thunderous roar, traveling at the speed of sound, rolled over the spectators."
Thanks for the laugh, Mr. Chang!
2
Does nobody realize this is scandalous? For the very same reason that we have this Musk doing something not really good but at least relatively benign, we have a Trump doing literally evil.
This is what the government does, not private citizens. When JFK sent us all on a mission to Mars, we all had reason to celebrate. We were together, a united nation, with serous divisions, but united.
That will never happen again. We have the distribution of wealth of a banana republic. And the national spirit that goes with that. It starts with taxes. The upper one percent tax rates should be raised tenfold to start. Some wealth may have to be transferred to the people to get where we should be, but had we not given this wealth away in the first place that would not be necessary.
We don't need Teslas in space. What a preposterous version of Trumpocracy.
5
Thank you, Micky! it's good someone in this comment section realizes that this is not something to be drooling over. It literally disgusts me.
3
Keep in mind if you watched the launch, that's a controlled explosion going on inside those rockets. Re-usable? Yes & no. I personally would want to ride a brand new rocket not a used one, if I was going into space. That said, visual of rockets landing looked like science fiction come to life. Didn't see the third one land on the ship. Truly amazing, Elon Musk & SpaceX. Congratulations!
3
As a materials science major, long ago, I wondered about that....
I grew up with the rocket launches of NASA many times in our school gym to watch liftoffs on a tiny tv on the stage. The excitement was back- as I screamed Go!GO!GO!!! at my laptop screen live feed. I also was almost in tears hearing the balanced and professional cadence of the countdown calls with the male and female engineer voices. Thank you, SpaceX, for a most memorable day!
8
Congratulations to SpaceX on a magnificent launch.
"“hark, now hear the sailors cry,
smell the sea, and feel the sky
let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic...”
― Van Morrison
6
Next stop....Mars. And we're not allowing Congress to follow us.
1
Congratulations SpaceX!
2
why can't we have elon musk for our president?
4
Ground control to major Tom. Elon Musk, you rock. Too bad our president can't acknowledge the accomplishments of our immigrants such as Elon who was born in South Africa in 1971 and became a US citizen in 2002.
5
He does recognize the accomplishments and contribution of LEGAL immigrants. Why do you think there is a proposal for merit based and skilled legal immigration?
The opposition has always been against illegal immigration / illegal aliens.
2
Hooray!!!!! "Space....the final frontier..."
2
So, did the Core land or what?
1
This is what the President should be tweeting about - the great accomplishments of Americans. Wait- Musk - South African. Dialing up ICE now Got to get these non contributing immigrants out of here.
Note that he had to come here to get it done.
1
and note that the opposition and concerns are against ILLEGAL alien immigrants. Not legal immigration,
Mr. Musk appears to substantiate the proposal of a merit-based and skill based immigration reform.
Congrats Elon Musk and SpaceX for your vision and contribution, and to the USA for providing a place to accomplish such things.
2
Oh my.....watched it live. Incredibly impressive and exciting. Encourage you to watch it. Astonishing accomplishment complete with Space Odyssey music and a red Testla sticking its nose out complete with a test dummy in the drivers seat. You cannot help but cheer out loud. Kudos to MSNBC for covering it live and NOT covering white house disinformation press conference. Wow....just Wow!
3
Cool..... Lets keep it up...
2
Al last someting for an American to be proud of ! (Done by an IMMIGRANT)
1
Again, Yes, kudos and congrats Elon- a LEGAL IMMIGRANT. Not to be confused with ILLEGAL ALIENS/ IMMIGRANTS.
Please realize NObody is against legal immigration at all in the USA. That has never been an issue. We are all immigrants here, but did so legally.
2
We all came here legally? Did you skip U.S. and World History in junior and senior high. I bet you think we won WWI and WWII all by ourselves. One thing for sure we lost the Vietnam War all by ourselves.
1
Been to Ellis Island? Yes, legally. Quite a gauntlet they had to run to get to stay here.
Wow! Wow! Wow! And, WOW!
3
SpaceX just reached "God Mode!" Falcon Heavy can deploy 72 tons to LEO at $90 million. NASA's contracted heavy lift vehicle from United Launch Alliance (Boeing / Lockheed), Delta IV Heavy, costs between $300-$500 million to lift 30 tons to LEO. GAME OVER! Space flight revolutionized today, folks!
3
Right, and Musk could never have done without NASA having done all that heavy lifting first.
2
A generation of intellectuals yet idiots raised on space fantasy thinks this spells hope for mankind even as our oceans die and the future habitability of this planet becomes ever increasingly doubtful. God Speed Elan Musk, please do take yourself and fellow true believers on that one way trip as soon as possible. What's more likely though, is this is just another exercise in privatizing profit, while socializing the costs, for a function formerly in the public sphere.
4
Such negativity? Do you have ANY idea as to the number of innovations brought to the fields of medicine, physics, environmental studies, biology, and on and on and on, by the various space programs? The benefits of space exploration FAR outweigh the cost, and in fact do help mankind understand it's home planet to a greater extent than ever thought possible. It's not exploration that should get the blame if the oceans die and the habitability of the planet becomes doubtful; it's the lack of mankind's ability to use the knowledge obtained with wisdom and kindness.
3
Well then you pay for it, since you know so much about it. We had better take care of what we have here first, before we start trotting off to other planets in the hopes of trashing them, the same way we're trading this one, and this is being done, particularly by the uber wealthy.
1
Try getting your nose out of the fantasy shows and take a good hard look at the real numbers, that is, before the real numbers are completely suppressed. Record Co2 last year, have you heard? That despite all the electric cars, wind mills, and photovoltaic cells. Just a matter of time til we turn a corner you say? You bet. No amount of technology is going to save you once the wet bulb temperature gets above 95 or so. The real future looks a lot more like Houston than Star Trek.
1
Burn, baby, burn! Congrats, SpaceX; live long and prosper!
3
Kudos to all of the hard working people at SpaceX.
What the company has been able to do as a startup has been very impressive. ULA is a consortium of well established Defense/NASA contractors and has not done better.
Next, getting humans to the Space Station on a Dragon.
3
Musk is my kind of crazy. Tesla would be proud to know his mechanical name sake is orbiting the sun.
9
Chills! Not since the Apollo missions have I experienced something this close to elation -- but it wasn't the liftoff that blew me away, it was thenerly simultaneous landing of the side boosters. Amazing! Congratulations to everyone on the SpaceX team. In a word that is torn with strife, you gave us all a lot of joy today!
47
" When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere. "
Robert Heinlein
4
Houston...No Problems! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team!
16
The thing holding us back in space for a while now has been the cost of getting a kilogram of space stuff (ship, fuel, astronaut, supplies, whatever) from the ground to orbit.
Today, we saw every other heavy-lift rocket rendered obsolete. Compare the Heavy to the SLS (the rocket that NASA might be able to launch in a few years) and you're looking at a 5x savings for the same amount of tonnage to orbit.
6
All government run/funded agencies can't help raiding the cookie jar before anything gets off the ground, literally. Government=Corruption from the top down, always has been, always will be.
A space vetted hunk of concrete would have cost more than a USED Tesla. That was Musk's personal car. As far as starving children why don't you do something about it instead of chastising others?
9
Things very often go wrong on test flights... exactly the reason to throw a used car in the cargo instead of something valuable.
2
No doubt Trump will claim credit for its design and success...
2
Wait, no Tesla charging station? How's the cat gonna go anywhere?
Per aspera ad astra...
Good luck & bon voyage.
4
Great to see, even if Musk thinks Mars is our backup plan once Trump and the GOP have killed the planet.
2
This was sooo beautiful!!!! Elon Musk and Tesla, that made me cry!!! We have entered a new age of space exploration today!!! In spite of all the mean and petty disagreements, in spite of all the things going on wrong with the Nation, it is today that an independent company, show us the best of being sociable sensible using the capital for what it supposed to be doing: push us all forward together as a species!!
3
Great car commercial!
1
Go Elon! Godspeed.
This is what an immigrant looks like America.
17
Yes, a LEGAL immigrant, Not an illegal alien/ immigrant.
Be wise and think straight before being snarky.
Kudos Mr. Musk and SpaceX
3
Meanwhile, our billionaire president wants to build a wall.
15
Trump is very 3rd Century.
3
Private company? Hardly. Spacex is approaching 6 billion in federal subsidies.
5
Game; set; match. What a bunch of people! What an enormous, splendid success! Hope SpaceX has many customers reflecting on what this new vehicle can offer them. Congratulations SpaceX!!! THIS is the right stuff.
8
Makes me believe all the more in the death tax on the wealthy.
2
I am sitting on a seawall in CapeCanaveral waiting for the launch. It is 72F sunny and beautiful out. Suxit NY
1
What an engineering feat to land both boosters simultaneously!! Take a bow Mr. Musk and your team!
7
Just watched the Falcon Heavy lift off. Perfect mission. What a sight. The two side boosters stuck their landing back at the Cape.
2
This is the best news I've seen in months....no, what - since trump was elected. And it gets even better because he can't claim any credit for it!
1
I'm really impressed that someone of Elon's size could build such a big rocket all by themselves.
Success comes from thinking outside the box and is good for science...
2
only if you share the data
Elon Musk, with the advent of SpaceX, is attempting to reinvigorate our quest to explore the cosmos. He's using his own money, so why would anyone complain? His next big project is named the BFR. And yes, that is what it stands for. I, for one, like Musk's sense of humor and style. I wish him success!
6
Seems unfair to say "NASA was not involved" when NASA has been very much involved in supporting SpaceX over the years - without NASA's early support, this day likely wouldn't have been possible.
In any case, it's a monumental achievement and congratulations to everybody who helped make it happen.
27
Elon Musk, our real-life Ironman!!! KUDOS Space X!!!
2
Success or failure today, you need to hand it to Elon Musk and his team. The man has revolutionized and disrupted four major industries, spaceflight being the most difficult. Just as terrestrial transport requires a range of vehicle sizes and types, so does space exploration and commerce. Short term, Falcon Heavy and NASAs SLS can be used to loft a variety of large components and support vehicles. The different payload sizes and types each can accommodate will fully enable human exploration beyond earth orbit. Later in the 2020s, Musk’s BFR concept and new technologies from Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin will join America’s rocket fleet, providing a foundation for human Mars exploration. The unlocked potential will then become nearly endless.
5
Magnificent! Wish I could have been there.
Thank you, Elon Musk. If only we had people of such vision running our country.
8
It is ridiculous to say that we should spend the money on welfare or the poor. This is the future. This is the direction that we need to be going. The thought that a little more money can fix what is wrong with this country or the world is just silly. Its not like we are just a little bit short of being able to resolve world hunger. Why do people always criticize the space programs? We always hear, " We have problems that need fixed down here." That is true but its not like they are mutually exclusive. Its not like we are choosing space over food stamps or medicare. Lets look at the black budget. If you want to reallocate some funds.
6
The propellant on board is equivalent to " four million tons of TNT!?" That is three times the size of the largest thermonuclear warhead in the US arsenal. That has to be a mistake.
But I love the idea and think it is great that Musk gets to live out a Tom Swift dream.
1
Four million pounds of TNT explosion if the rocket fails. That's 2,000 tons of TNT, or 2 kilotons. The Nagasaki blast was 20 kilotons. What's there to worry about?
My initial comment, which was quickly recommended by over 30 readers, was later taken down for unstated reasons. All I said, in effect, was that it would be good to see Trump on board with this.
5
The spirit of science combined with the excitement of trying new things. Created by a company owned by an immigrant.
This is what made America great.
Take note, Mr. Trump
8
Yes, Congrats and Kudos Mr. Musk!
(Who happens to be a LEGAL IMMIGRANT, not an illegal alien. What is the point of your attempt to conflate the two?
Just celebrate and enjoy the space and entrepreneurial advancement for a change please, and leave the vitriol or politics out of it for a change?
this crazy cool! I certainly hope it works.
call it: "STAR CARS -- A New Hope"
They are being mum about the center booster module that was supposed to land on the drone ship. The other two made perfect simultaneous touchdowns at KSC.
1
As a Wise Man has taught us, "If you can do it, it ain't braggin'."
Musk rocks...
6
What a launch! What a launch! For the past few years, nothing has excited me as much as SpaceX launches. Good luck to the Roadster on its long journey. Thanks to SpaceX and its vision, today, the heavens have become a little closer.
1
Why not deploy a useful payload??
Test flight. You don't risk valuable stuff on a test flight.
1
I absolutely LOVED IT! It was so awesome that I will admit that I spontaneously shed a few tears when I saw Earth below. My nieces and nephews watched on their moms cell and were inspired. Absolutely a good day.
3
Why is it carrying a sports car. Who will drive it?
Starman is at the wheel.
1
That was incredible!
1
If it flies! It sure did! Remarkable to watch on MSNBC....great commentary!
2
AWESOME!!! Keep up the great work, SpaceX.
3
Now if only the rest of the .01 would do something equally inspiring with all their cash and tax cuts.
4
How can one single individual gets to accumulate so much money they can build their own rocket, launch it like most us buy a star war plastic sword for they children? The gap is mesmerizing!
2
History has just been made. Guess they took the battery packs out of the roadster, or that would of been quite an explosion in a Zero-G environment.
Another "Random Success" way to go SpaceX
1
I cried and laughed watching this launch. Congratulations to SpaceX and to all the people who worked on this, and to all the people who's work they built upon, going back centuries.
A nice break from the ugliness of the Trump era.
4
where are the climate scientists for all the air pollution? my god for my children sake ,,, it needs to be stopped .,
Are you being sarcastic? Satellites are giving scientists a lot of the data they use on climate change. No conflict really.
1
Yet more bread and circuses. What have we gotten so far from this colossal waste of money? Tang and microchips. Thank goodness for the microchips and processors as they have permitted us to develop better and better ways to kill each other. Guns have become so prosaic, so commonplace. I don't care how many rockets we send up or how many planets we visit, nothing is in the works right now that gives me any hope our species won't be totally extinct in the next five hundred years.
3
Five hundred seems very optimistic.
Elon says there's a 50/50 chance of this working. So either way, we're in for a good time.
The Falcon launch planned for today triggers some fond old memories of how we, as a nation, used to come together and unite around space exploration when it was fresh and brand new.
Remember the magic of July 20, 1969? That's when many of us watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took "one giant leap for mankind." And then a year later, April 11, 1970, when Apollo 13 launched but was later crippled due to an exploding oxygen tank. And how we breathlessly and collectively watched and waited while NASA engineers concocted a way to get them safely home. The whole world watched with us. And how utterly happy and relieved when our guys, safe and sound, splashed down.
Also, Remember September 12, 1962. That's the date JFK challenged and astounded us to take a stroll on the moon before the end of that decade.
This is what he poetically said: "We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win ."
And despite the toxicity of the 60's, those were heady space-bound days of a uniting kind of pride for our great albeit imperfect nation. Where did it all go? And can we get at least some of it back?
4
I've been watching every type of spacecraft launch since I was a wee kid watching the Atlas rockets. This stuff NEVER ceases to amaze me and continues to prove how much the human race can accomplish when it puts its collective mind to it. FANTASTIC!!
1
This was so amazing to watch! I was watching with my 87 year old dad and we were both oooohhing and ahhhing. The re-entry of the boosters and their graceful landing had us both clapping. What a wonderful positive experience!
1
Pretty amazing that this kind of thing happens in the same country that elected Donald Trump.
1
Musk gets an awful lot of money from the United States government and it shouldn't' be wasted on a car Commercial. If Musk wants to launch his cars into space that's his business, just as Space launches to benefit mankind should be NASA's business.
Yea !! I was at the night launch of Apollo 17. It was the greatest and most awe inspiring human made experience - A sun rises. A hurricane blows. A heat storm presses. The earth shakes up and down. Consuming. And then the Moon.
In between - wasted wars.
Now -the Frontier we need -space. No Frontier - no future for humanity. It was the Frontier spirit that made America great - and America is once again seeing great leaders and pioneers going again -
Way to go Space X and Elon Musk !!
3
For the first time in a long while i felt truly wowed in a positive way. So cool to be human.
3
WOW!!! What a sight to behold!!! At 20,000kph, and then when the two boosters landed, exactly on time, I had chills. Elon Musk has to be person of the year after this. The way he tongue in cheek made a mockery of regulation laws last week by selling Tesla branded flame throwers showed what real entrepreneurship is about - stepping over barriers to make anything possible. He's going to colonize mars. All the while selling Tesla's, in the greatest marketing stunt in history.
To boldly go where no one has gone before. Live long and prosper Mr Musk!
309
He sold out those flame throwers (excuse me, "temperature enhancement device") too. $10 million in sales.
1
Do you think donald trump wishes he were Elon Musk? If he did, he'd mostly likely figure he'd be closer to ruling the solar system.
2
I was just watching the NASA channel and it seems their unaware of the Space X. heavy rocket launch. Also they were talking about the NASA big rocket that's planned for a late 2019 launch.
Elon Musk is making space exploration exciting again. Something that NASA lacks. NASA shows views from the International Space Station, but they don't tell where they are flying over or what your looking at.
Best wishes for a successful launch Elon! Go Space X.
1
Watched the live stream, and all I can say is "wow". Thank you, Mr. Musk, for inspiring awe in me, and others, again.
1
Bravo... Great Accomplishment! Congratulations all!
The vertical landing of the two boosters rockets is the coolest thing ever! Period!
3
Interesting. I don't think I've ever read a news article that puts a number to the payload capacity. That got me thinking. So, the Falcon 9 has a max payload of about 55,000 lbs. To put things in perspective, the average tractor trailer you see on the highway carries about 80,000 lbs. The Falcon Heavy is obviously a vast expansion but 140,000 lbs still really isn't that much. Not even two tractor trailers worth of material. I know space materials are ultralight but at 62 million plus per launch, with the occasional explosion to boot, that's a hefty shipping fee.
That got me thinking about a second question. Aside from sending manned space missions across the cosmos, what do we need to launch into space that weighs more than 55,000 lbs at a single go? Elon Musk appears to have built a delivery truck for a product no one has thought about delivering yet. These are unmanned space craft after all. If the product isn't pre-assembled, you need to deliver it to somone. All of a sudden, we're very "Field of Dreams" in our space exploration. If you build it...
30
Think of assembling space based launching pads that can be used to launch interstellar exploration. Easier to launch from zero gravity than the earths.
Also, larger payloads mean fewer trips to destinations such as International Space Station to deliver re supplies.
2
SpaceX regularly designs, manufactures and launches satellites and such devices into space for many companies. It brings cargo to and from the International Space Station.
They are also the ones trying to perfect re-use of the rockets etc, rather than having to remake new rockets every launch. And having them land on specific targets is pretty darn incredible.
The goal is Mars, but they do bread & butter all the time. Everyone needs a dream.
2
See "Skylab".
170,000 lbs, launched on a Saturn V in 1973.
This rocket will have plenty of customers.
2
Agreement with PK2NYT. Why would we tax and suppress people like Musk?
Think of all the jobs and prosperity that this has created, and will create. The dreams it will inspire in our youth. The technological advancements and opportunities. Sink or swim, its the dawn of a new era. This is fantastic!
Well, Elon nodded at Bowie and Douglas Adams. I hope somewhere in there is also a nod to Delos David Harriman who was the original, if fictional, zillionaire with a dream (see "The Man Who Sold the Moon" by Robert A. Heinlein).
1
Finally some good news in 2018! Congrats to Elon and the Space X team.
1
Between this and the Pats losing on Sunday, this is the most optimistic week I've had since the election.
1
All the best to Elon Musk.
He represents the thinking and guts of those who built this great nation, willing to face the risks, knowing that perseverance eventually pays off.
We would still be in the dark ages, but for men and women with his derring-do.
3
I am 100% in favor of ambitious forward-thinking projects like this, but don’t scoff at the mention of trash. No one in the Stone Age or even the beginning of the industrial era could have fathomed the impact of their waste on the planet and on public health when it first began. Today, similarly, worrying about the idea of polluting the vastness of space might seem absurd to us, but the future is endlessly arriving. Figuring out ways to reuse items and use them efficiently is well worth considering, even in space.
1
Wow! Nice job Space X! The booster landings were most impressive. It seems that most of the really smart people have dedicated themselves to science and engineering. We could a use a few of them in government.
2
Thank god, something to be happy about. I don't think Elon will have much trouble finding volunteers for a Mars mission these days. (I'll go).
2
The readers commenting on how Elon's money could go towards healthcare instead should be calling their elected officials to tell them to push the government in spending less money on war and golf, and more money on health care and infrastructure.
Elon Musk is spending his own money on something that may one day contribute to the greater good of mankind. This is an engineering marvel and I'm in awe of how big he dreams and how far he takes those dreams.
34
Amen.
2
It is wonderful to be reminded of what the US is about: Musk, is a brilliant (visionary) immigrant businessman (real one) who created the fantastic concept behind SpaceX to harness the intellectual of our engineers/scientists, the resources and the Country's economic might needed to make this work. I just want to watch and enjoy the launch again and forget about the other politics nonsense.
8
The idea of sending humans to Mars is incredibly ill-conceived and reckless - not to mention wasteful. People have seen too many Star Wars and Star Trek movies (apparently, that includes Elon). They think human life on Mars is feasible - after all, we've already seen it Alderon and Tatooine.
Human life as been evolving on Earth for hundreds of millions of years. Planet Earth has a gravity of 1.0 G. The gravity on Mars is 0.38 G. It's quite likely that anyone exposed to Mars' gravity for extended periods will develop various health problems. It's also entirely likely that any person conceived and gestated in a 0.38 G environment will be born with various birth defects. This is just one of Mars' shortcomings.
Some people think that we need to have a back up planet - in case we totally destroy Earth. But no matter how badly we degrade Earth's biosphere, it will ALWAYS be more hospitable to human life than any other planet out there.
143
even if we find a backup planet not everyone on earth is going to make the cut to be moved there. and i wonder how the decisions about who goes and who stays will be made, and by whom? does a representative sample go, or does just genetic material and a lab to put it all together in our new home?
2
“We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.”
Substitute Mars for the Moon. That is your answer and it is a private company.
Uncle Sam loses more money in the couch cushions than SpaceX has spent from day one.
2
Also, instead of looking for a backup plan, why not invest in cleaning up earth and stop destroying it. If this kind of money was spent on inventing clean energy for all, and finding alternatives for everything that pollutes, not just cars, this world would last for another thousands of lifetimes. However, evolution is a false religion, and proven that mankind has not had any major changes since their Creation and science failed to prove anything else.
Mr. Musk's positive media spin hides a dark fact: his company's choice to site a new launchpad in a pristine part of Texas: Boca Chica. Why he couldn't use former NASA facilities, such as he did in Cape Canaveral, or why he couldn't use an existing industrial site is entirely unclear.
Space X at Boca Chica is a done deal, but new threats remain, such as various attempts for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities to site within a few miles of the SpaceX facility. Siting massive quantities of explosive gas near a rocket launch facility seems like a recipe for disaster.
We the public need a stronger voice in where these types of facilities get located. There are good and bad options, and we need to make sure that science and conservation, not money, guide the decisions. Space and progress aren't all about just cheering rocket launches.
2
He's got my vote for president. If we want to elect a billionaire businessman, let's at least elect a real one
2
This is so cool! Watching the 2 boosters land was incredible!
4
That was a truly spectacular launch. I was unprepared for the boosters' re-entry and graceful simultaneous vertical landings. It looked like a dance.
Watching this was truly exciting and inspiring; I felt almost as if I were back in grade school listening as Alan Shepard piloted our first Mercury manned suborbital flight.
17
I just by chance tuned in right in time. I agree it was something else to watch those boosters gracefully land right on their bullseyes. Utterly awesome.
Congratulations, Elon.
2
So it's a red roadster. Whimsy is priceless, and at this scale, all too rare. Bravo.
6
I watched this. I had tears in my eyes. I would like to thank Elon Musk for facilitating this endeavor. For a dozen or so minutes, this made me feel proud to be an American again.
472
And then, Trump started tweeting....
1
yeah. if only he wasnt born in africa. lol. still awesome things. i suppose the company is american tho
1
by "this made me feel proud to be an American again."..
I guess/hope you mean proud to be an Earthling / human being ?
Please don't make this to be just about America. Thousands of scientists & engineers from all over the world have been working with this! Yes they worked in US. But this is more a: ...one giant leap for mankind! than 1969!
1
Great job! Wow! 27 rockets all worked simultaneously! That suggests the rockets are very reliable, or they were just very lucky. If each booster had a 99% chance of success, then the chance of 27 engines working is 0.99 ^27 = 76.2%. If the success rate per rocket is 98% then the chance 0.98^27 = 58%.
19
very flaud math. not every engine needs to work for success of launch.
Absolutely beautiful! Great work. Seeing those boosters return and land was AWESOME!!!!! Thank you, Starman.
22
I wish that I was just arriving on this planet so I could be part of the great adventure that is coming our way! I'd love to travel to the moon, to Mars and beyond and be part of the exploration and colonization of space. I'm 70 now and the most I can do is enjoy these magnificent launches! I live in Florida and we witnessed Falcon Heavy launching. Wow! The bright orange flame was visible for at least 100 miles or more! Fantastic!
I hope on my next trip to this planet I'm one of the lucky astronauts! Please god, let me come back!
21
Utterly inspiring. Such a testimony to human ingenuity and determination. Well done, Space X and thank you for giving me the same feeling the previous generations must have had watching the Apollo programs. Here’s to the future. Our future.
45
That was pretty cool...but I am going to assume the core didn't land safely or they would have told us. As I am sure it has already happened before the video actually ended. Just the same, I think it is still safe to call this test a success.
6
Yea they cut off the broadcast and their Twitter said nothing. It's not shameful to miss that landing on your first try.
1
So far so good. Good job, to all involved in SpaceX!
In particular, I like that this is aiming to go as far as Mars orbit. That's proof that's a reachable goal. I know it's likely a long time before humans will be making that trip, but it would be yet another giant leap for mankind.
2
That was so incredibly inspirational! God good, why can't we always aspire for things like this? Amazing!
146
Its great to see that some humans are still reaching for the stars...
78
I take issue with the analogy to turbo charging. Turbocharging takes the same engine and runs more fuel and air through it to get more power. What the Falcon Heavy does is put more engines on the vehicle.
1
This is, of course, true. But the casual reader will get the rough idea that this is a goosed-up Falcon, which is really all we can expect from a national newspaper.
1
You're correct, but I don't think you need to be. It's a news article, and used more loosely, does refer to using the same things in a more powerful way.
What the ability of Mr. Musk to finance such ventures shows is that profits and income need to be taxed at higher, more progressive rates.
11
EXACTLY, Ken, because we want people like Musk to be able to do LESS of this stuff. It just doesn't do us any good. GPS, miniturization, etc. ALL a waste of time, effort and money that should go to the government.
1
Yes, that way the money could have been spent much less efficiently by NASA...
Congratulations!! You get a Harrison Bergeron Award for handicapping outstanding people to make them merely ordinary.
1
A successful launch of Falcon Heavy is more than a triumph of technology over gravity. It also underscores the uniquely American phenomenon of entrepreneurship, and ability to undertake mega projects with private capital. (Yes, Elon is originally from South Africa but found the right ecology in the US). Many bemoan the wealth created by the Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Uber, Facebook and possibly Tesla. Yet if that wealth enables meaningful and beneficial endeavors without government funds to push the frontiers of science, then that success atones for the some of the ill effects of concentration of wealth.
Entrepreneurs such as Musk fill a gap that is left by the demise or underfunding of many erstwhile ambitious government programs and disappearance of institutions such as Bell Labs that was once the font of many game changing technologies. Falcon Heavy may fly or flounder in its maiden flight, but the underlying American entrepreneurship to undertake pyramid size projects should buoy the American spirit, especially when the government is incapacitated by the morass at its apex.
106
"...mega projects with private capital."...I'm all for this, but at the same time how about a mega project focused on the here and now of our crumbling infrastructure??
'uniquely American phenomenon of entrepreneurship'
??? How so? Care to elaborate?
1
" ...the uniquely American phenomenon of entrepreneurship..." ???
Err,I think you'll find there are successful entrepreneurs all around the world...but full marks for typical American modesty.
1
Though exciting and inspiring, manned space flight is highly dangerous and exceedingly expensive. For the cost of a manned Mars mission (with the intention of returning the voyagers safely to earth), how many unmanned space missions would be possible? Dozens. If the goal of space flight is to enable national chest thumping, then manned flight wins every time. If the goal is learning, the long-term reduction of suffering and poverty, the financial return on investment, then unmanned flight wins hands down. Consider the world's limited financial resources. Sagan eloquently made this point last century. It's still valid.
8
I do agree but it's not about "chestthumping" . Sending humans to Mars and beyond is also a question of both an eternal desire for expansion and survival. As Bradbury in one of his great SF-stories: Man inhabit Mars, Earth starts war, everybody goes back into the inferno (except for two people left on Mars who tries to avoid each other). That's an irony square 2 ! (it doesn´t have to be that way)
It seems strange to title an article "Watch the SpaceX Falcon" yet provide no link where watching can happen. Perhaps the title is just cheerleading to induce one to watch. Or perhaps I missed the link when I searched the article.
you missed the link
I have seen this before with the NY Times where they do not put a link to the source material. Seems a bit weird given that they aren't in a protect the source mode and if one does want to go to the source they would most likely leave the NYTImes website. A link that opens in an new window or tab or pop up would seem to make more sense for the reader and the NYTimes financials.
It happened two hours ago, WEBCAST on youtube, sorry !
They were looking for a "dummy payload" to send to orbit Mars forever and they used a car?
What a crying shame.
Congress was ready and waiting.
212
Best comment ever! Those grifters are so heavy, you'd only need one or two to get to sports car weight!
1
Just the commander in chief would do...
1
FYI latest launch time is now 2:50pm Eastern. (Weather issues) Step-1 of the Countdown ("SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load") hasn't happened yet. SpaceX site states "Teams are watching upper level wind shear and will continue to update as information becomes available."
The man's a hero!
8
One day all the rockets will aim the stars instead of aiming other parts of this fragile planet.
15
Godspeed Falcon!
7
Go NASA boo falcon heavy
1
If this launch is a success you can expect Trump to say it was his influence.
16
Arent we on a spaceship which is hurtling through the cosmos at this very moment?
7
To those of you that complain it's a waist of money, it's his money. He can do what he wants with it. If he wanted to burn it, it's still his money. He earned it. Would you like someone telling you not to buy something because they thought it was a waist of money?
He is attempting to do great things with his money in my opinion. There are not to many other people trying to build rockets for peacful uses.
As for the people that say he's launching space junk, something has to be launched to test the system. Might as well make it something interesting. I like his sense of humur.
26
waste, not waist
His money? How about our money? Spacex has received about six billion dollars in federal subsidies.
Waste of money.
Waist is what your belt circles.
It is remarkable that 45 years ago it took a government agency ( NASA ) to do this sort of thing, but now it is a private enterprise.
27
True but then again they couldn't have done it without the decades of government sponsored research which preceded it. Ditto for the internet you're currently using to read this. The private sector is great at accelerating innovation but the government is great when it comes to funding basic scientific research. It's when the two combine that projects like this are possible.
3
Very true, but it required 50 years of government agency funding to provide proof-of-concept, so that private enterprise knew money can be made from it.
1
It just goes to show you that government only gets in the way of progress. NASA would have had us on Mars years ago if it not had to rely on the government for funding.
If that contaminated car actually hits Mars things will be irrevocably ruined for future exploration and discovery.
1
How do you know the car is contaminated?
You do know that humans have been landing vehicles on Mars for decades right? The first probe to land on Mars was in 1971...
3
Its not heading for mars, its orbiting the sun at mars distance, read it again.
9
Calling Major Tom! Start the Tesla engine and ride it to Mars!
6
I wish I could be on that rocket, instead of having to endure the political insanity that has griped this country. We all know the presumed voyage of the rocket, which is more than anyone can say about the direction in which this country is headed under the faux leadership of those, in Washington D.C., who are supposed to lead this country.
16
Although this will be the first actual production car in space (disregarding the moon buggies), Saturday Night Live and Star Trek Voyager beat him to it!
3
If we waited until all our problems were solved, we would still be living in the James Town Colony.
To the Solar System and beyond. Bonne chance mon ami.
129
James Town? Humans would still number just a few hundred thousand scattered across eastern Africa.
Hats off to Elon Musk. The guy has heart, guts, and a fantastic attitude. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a successful and historic event. Send a Tesla Roadster into space - awesome!
97
... and the meek shall inherit the earth....
... bye bye, y'all...
1
It saddens me that such a large percentage of NYT readers see this endeavor as nothing more than a waste of money which they could find a better use for.
Zero sense of wonderment or awe. No desire to be amazed.
No hope or inspiration.
Only bitterness.
Please don’t contaminate children with your narcissistic hopelessness.
Look up!
Fly, baby fly!
973
Well said.
7
It's a commercial enterprise. The hope is that it will make a lot of money for someone.
3
Having a larger view of the world and the suffering of others does not negate a desire to be amazed...as in amazed by how some humans desires to spend their own money to helping other rather than building a selfish 90 million space toy...nothing to be amazed about...oh and both my parents are rocket scientists!
1
Elon, I wish you the best. You are teaching us that science can be fun.
33
Pretty amazing that the largest rocket available today is produced by a private company. I wonder when Elon Musk is going to change his name to D. D. Harriman?
3
Given the chaotic state of our country, God bless Elon Musk for giving us something we can look at with pride.
27
This Falcon Heavy flight is a demonstration. The second stage needed a dummy payload with some weight. Assembling some other purpose-built dummy payload could easily have cost more than the Tesla.
If you are offended because the cost of this flight was not applied instead to providing universal health care, stopping global warming, or ending world hunger, you must be positively livid about the $20 billion which Congress has ordered NASA to waste on developing the Space Launch System. Not to mention the $1000 billion (that is, one trillion dollars) for a tax cut for our masters, the 0.1%. If you want to fix those things, go after the big fish by voting Democrat in November.
508
Thank you for putting things in perspective!
1
The Democrats are just as bad. How much did the last administration spend in Afghanistan after promising to end that war? And for what? Do you really go to bed at night worrying about some guy named Abdul living in Kabul? I dont. I have impending earthquakes to fear, volcanoes that could explode, killer flu-bugs, and texting drivers to consider but not some guy in the poppy fields.
2
You forgot to mention the President that gave us the war in Afghanistan. Not surprised.
2
Using lots of small rocket engines has been the bane of the Soviet/Russian space program, and a big reason they experience more failures than NASA.
The Falcon Heavy is relatively cheap, but the payloads it will be expected to carry will be extremely expensive - sometimes in the billions. So is a cut-rate booster really a good deal, given the higher risk of losing not only an expensive payload but perhaps one that had been in development for 10 years or more and cannot be replaced?
1
Citations needed.
2
what a complete and utter waste of time and money. the emission's alone are reason enough to scrap this game played by multi millionaires. as people suffer terrible disease's, homelessness and other atrocities, ELON MUSK somehow find's it necessary to fire these polluted ridden structures into our already damaged ozone layer. let's just call this what it is,,, the decline of humanity!!!
1
I'm guessing you are good with not having any satellites to do things like measure the health of the oceans, or the flare activity of the sun, or CO2 emissions, or drought conditions, or the formation of tropical cyclones, or global communications or any of the other things we do from space that actively improve the lives of us on the ground.
Get the point?
This is not just a multi-millionaires "game".
80
Yep, back to the caves!
3
I think it's foolish to call it a waste of time and money, but you are certainly correct in pointing out how damaging the emissions can be.
Rocket launches are still rare enough that their environmental impact is negligible but reducing their pollutants should eventually be addressed as agencies/businesses/govts across the world turn this thing into something as common as commercial flight.
2
Did anyone else think of the 1981 movie "Heavy Metal" when you saw the astronaut in a road car?
9
Yes, the first thing that came to mind.
yup! now i have "radar rider" in my head for the rest of the day
It reminded me of the ending of Grease with John Travolta driving. Same color car and everything.
Good luck. Thankfully Elon Musk is a Da Vinci avatar.
Having to rely on the Russians to ride Americans into space is pretty embarrassing. NASA's budget is a minor fraction of the federal budget.
16
I'm very excited about this launch. While visionaries like Elon Musk want to take us to the future, Trump and his voters want to take us backwards. Trump goes to Detroit and essentially tells the Auto companies to not worry about innovating and meeting efficiency standards. On the other hand Mr. Musk wants us build all electric cars that cost much lesser to operate. Trump goes to Energy companies and tells them to not worry about innovating and continue to use more and more coal. On the other hand Mr. Musk wants to build Solar cities that provide super cheap energy.
Conflicting times these are !
44
I watched those speaches and I don't remember him saying not to inovate. I also don't understand why giving money to the companies that drive our economy and to improve our world is a bad thing. Almost all things american businesses do are not bad. How do you think America got this far? America has it far better than most of the rest of the world. American industry is the engine that pulls us all along to a better world. Stop the engine and the whole train stops and the economy suffers. Who would build the generator plants that provide electricity to power those electric cars? If you say use solar, could you build a solar panel from scratch? If you say use wind, could you build a wind mill from scratch including the wire and magnets? These things take huge amouts of money to build and make those electric cars so cheap to operate.
2
Musk is the future; Trump and his base are the past.
1
The value of things depends on the spirit they excite.
If Elon finds delight in what he launches today.
I'd say Hooray!!
and let it go at that.
Whatever his motives; whatever it is.
It has all been for the benefit of mankind
(for us)
and his contributions have been immense.
To understand him, you'd have to walk not merely a mile
in his shoes, but travel throughout the galaxies
which is something he is about to do symbolically in style.
We are very fortunate to have had this foreign immigrant
show up on our shores and choose to stay.
A famous historian once said that the supreme achievement of management is to blur the distinction between work and play.
Launching a car into an eternal joyride is something he's more than entitled to do -- and is about to do in his own way.
If you are envious of his success; work harder, play more, and criticize less.
662
Trump probably would have kept him out!
work harder! that's right work harder?!?!?! please - do say that to the teacher in my town!
I spent an afternoon with him going over a startup b plan seven years ago. He was a nice guy. Most CEOs aren't.
1
Several commenters worried about stunts and costs don't seem to understand that this is a test flight being made ahead of future missions for the heavy lift rocket and not simply a one-off joy ride for an old car. Test flights are necessary for a new rocket system. And a payload is part of the test. It's not written in stone that they payload on test mission, by definition expendable, has to be a blob of material like concrete.
111
Those commenters should watch the movie "The Right Stuff," especially the part where they show all the rockets exploding or crashing soon after takeoff. Those were clips of real rocket failures.
So many engines on the rocket instead of a couple of big ones the law of averages is that it is highly probable that something can go wrong if one of those engines missfires. I wish Elon all the luck to make this concept work. There are many problems that probably have not been addressed that NASA probably would have investigated. While a private venture is truly a good thing I still think NASA is the way to go.
11
The "law of averages" (see the Law of Large Numbers or the Central Limit Theorem) would apply if there were 1000 boosters or so, not 3.
2
Surviving an engine failure is much easier when there are multiple engines, do a little bit of reading before making incorrect blanket statements.
This about this, would you rather try and cross the ocean on a single engine craft, or a multi-engine craft?
3
So many engines was the path chosen by the legendary "Chief Designer" of the Soviet Union space program Sergei Korolev. American astronauts ride that type of Russian rocket to the ISS.
2
Come on Elon. You could do something better than using a very expensive car to orbit around Mars or the Sun just to be the first rich man to say I got my Red Tesla with a dummy astronaut figure into the heavens. You are telling any alien space explorer race who comes across it in the future that the earthlings are foolish and candidates for invasion or food fodder.
57
A dummy payload is required for this test, and any dummy payload is as good as any other for testing purposes, so why not have some style? Besides which, are you saying some alien race is going to look at us and say "I don't know, we were ready to give you guys a pass but the red car thing ..."
183
Come on, Mark. Look at the history of science and you'll see many efforts that seemed pointless but led to developments that others built on to make the civilization that we enjoy today.
8
Agree. What a waste of SPACE! Elon could have offered that cargo capacity to dozens of worthy research projects.
1
Elon Musk is reckless! We have enough space junk without putting more junk into interplanetary space. The government should have never approved this launch. NASA and the DOD go to extremes to ensure satellites meet NASA outgassing guidelines and specs, even vacuum baking satellites before launch to minimize contamination. The oils and plastics in the Tesla car will outgas into space and do not meet NASA requirements, let alone the hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide dumped into the atmosphere from this RP-1 fueled rocket. Imagine having to dodge a car in future interplanetary missions! Furthermore, no responsible agency would launch a rocket if there was really only a 50-50 chance of success.
1
We have a lot of spce junk in -earth orbit- This thing will go into a solar system orbit, that's a totally different thing.
2
Junk in interplanetary space is not an issue. Junk in earth orbits used by satellites is a huge issue. Interplanetary space is inconceivably huge, geostationary orbits, on the other hand, are actually quite crowded and full of expensive hardware that people rely on. It would be inconceivable (You keep on using that word...) to have a collision with a stray object in interplanetary space.
3
How do you know the car hasn't been stripped and cleaned?
2
Thank you Elon for giving a further reason to continue space exploration.Your orbitting car will be the ultimate holy grail for a future car collector.
94
90 million to send items into space that will become trash/debris... How about fix healthcare with that 90 million??
38
How many billions do DT want taxpayers to waste on more nukes? This is private money who might contribute to important space science.
21
I have a better idea. Let's keep reaching for the stars.
The US has plenty of money to engage in wars for fun and profit. Let's take some of that money and do something good with it instead of wrecking things and people...
244
$90 million would do NOTHING for healthcare. It needs trillions. And "trash/debris"? So you don't want television, internet, GPS, weather forecasts, earth science, astronomy and cosmology (space telescopes and detectors), surveillance of our adversaries, early warning against nuclear attack, etc, etc.? Yes let's go back to 1950.
421
This is truly the Superbowl of space science. To have a private corporation building heavy lifters to take us anywhere in our solar system is just amazing. I hope SpaceX placed a small beacon on his Tesla so we can track it through space. Good luck and Godspeed!
35
So much money spent... such a waste.
And yet there are those who believe the war budget is not money wasted. At least we learn something when we engage in scientific pursuits. War is just a waste. See DDE's final address...
16
It's not that much money, about as much as what American's spent on pet food last year. It was dwarfed by the $572 million spent by the cable companies to destroy net neutrality.
Feel better?
5
Joe, war might be a waste, but until all people are perfect and kind, the occasional need for war (like in getting rid of real Nazis, not the new-age pretend kind) might be a necessary cost.
My nephew works for SpaceX. I will be watching.
8
In about 200 years someone will recover the roadster and sell it at pebble beach.
6
Terrible waste of a perfectly good car, but I’m going to watch it on NASA TV! Musk has shown leadership and vision for Space exploration AND the manufacturing Industry of America (despite Any side effects)
3
now that I got myself started on American manufacturing and innovation, Elon Musk has shown me that you can make things work (With me in mind): he took over a used “manufacturing facility, the Numi (Saturn) plant of Fremont California and used it, as an almost Proto type production facility, to produce his (now) incredibly successful electric teslas. He took a used launching pad and re-designed it without the tower etc. for his New rocket. The one thing he built from the ground up was his battery manufacturing plant out there in Nevada somewhere: this, coined a “megafacility”, he needed to be built from the ground-up, Because there is nothing like it to salvage or reconfigure in any of the conventional industrial areas; battery technology being what it is and not unduly complex or prone to manufacturing design or manufacturing engineering reconfigurations that would require retooling the facility; this manufacturing floor could remain essentially the same and yet produce different – basic items that are squarish In shape, and weigh a lot… No rocket science there!
Maybe when his Electric vehicles become more successful, he May build a giant manufacturing facility; his Rockets more successful, The same. The idea that Americans like marketing more then… Common sense – believing that tearing down a facility and building A new one in its place will automatically make “everything better“ is pure folly (unless, of course the old facilities are truly decrepit andDemoralizing).
1
Seriously? A car? Into outer space? Why?
Mr. Musk couldn't your billions perhaps do some good? Like maybe opening a hospital/ Something other than this ?
His rocket, his rules.
5
If you bothered to read a bit you would know why. It's a TEST flight. Of course it doesn't have a real payload. Test flights never do. The car is essentially just ballast to mimic a real payload to get the center of gravity right. So what that he's promoting his car brand at the same time? When operational this booster will launch satellites, interplanetary probes and people. You don't like TV, internet, GPS, weather forecasts, earth science, astronomy, and the endless other things satellites do for us? Elon is doing a LOT of good. No one can do everything.
23
Well the limited vision, small picture, glass half empty camp has been heard from...
13
The stock market created billionaires like Musk and Bezos, to lend the government space exploration a helping hand. The vision of these two among others exemplifies the enterpreneurial spirit that have always guided the US to
explore greater things. Apple, Google and Facebook could only have their beginnings happened in a country like the USA, not Russia or China. And now we have space exploration to add to that.
3
NB - the people who started these companies are IMMIGRANTS!
321
Alibaba and Tencent are at least as innovative as Apple, Google, and Facebook, and arguably have an impact on more people. They're ahead of the curve on AI and healthcare compared to any US company.
...and they're from China...
Elon Musk is awesome, but let's not turn this into another opportunity for Americans to pat themselves on the back for building what the rest of the world sees as a mediocre country.
14
Bezos was born in New Mexico and his father was born in Chicago. Hardly, immigrants. Zuckerberg was born in White Plains, New York. Steve Jobs and Wosniak were both born in the Bay area. Google did have one Russian immigrant start the company along with another American.
3
I'll be tuning it. Events like this should be worth anybody's time.
7
Godspeed! Elon Musk with your BFR
God speed Elon Musk!!!
3
Go, Elon! Go!
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