The fastest car in the World? No. It's the fastest car in the Universe!

[BruceK]

You may have heard that Elon Musk has placed a Tesla on top of his newest rocket and will be blasting the car into space.  Oh, and there is a rocketman in the driver's seat.  Yup. 

Here's a video of what is planned.

[Willie_B]

Sure, why not.

[MiniDave]

Not just A Tesla, but his personal roadster form the first batch of cars they made. He has to put something in the nose of the rocket, might as well be that as some concrete or steel or cast iron. I'm sure they took everything heavy out of it like the battery and motor......I really like this guy, he's not just an inventor and showman, but he actually gets things done!

Not only is this an epic launch, but it will test a lot of unknowns in their system, al three boosters are supposed to return to landings, the two side ones at cape Canaveral and the main on a floating barge, the main stage is set for a 6 hour cruise which will take it thru the van allen radiation belts, they don't know if the fuel will freeze or the radiation will affect the electronics. If it all works, the car will be launched in a wide orbit around the sun that could take it close to Mars a couple of times....all exciting stuff! The Launch is scheduled for today at 1:30-4 pm Eastern time - weather permitting - which so far looks good.

Watch it live here - spacex.com

[BruceK]

Launch has been delayed due to weather, but it is now T - 11:00 as I write this.  I am watching live and I understand Buzz Aldrin is watching in person near the launch pad. 

[MiniDave]

Launch went exactly as planned! Exciting to watch!

[BruceK]

Launch went exactly as planned! Exciting to watch!

Yeah!  That was pretty damn cool.   It definitely reminded of when I watched Gemini and Apollo launches live as a kid.

[MiniDave]

I loved the shots of the "guy" in the car!  Don't panic!   ;D

[BruceK]

I loved the shots of the "guy" in the car!  Don't panic!   ;D

Then you will love the live shots of Starman in the roadster from space:

[Jims5543]

Put on some headphones and enjoy this binuaral immersion video of the launch and rocket landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImoQqNyRL8Y


I just read where the Don't Panic on the dash corresponds with the copy of the Book "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" that is in the glovebox and a towel, another reference to the book.

I have no paid much attention to Musk over the years until this launch, which I was trying like hell to go see, but was too busy at work to get away.

Watching him hold a press conference after the launch, I have become an instant fan of the guy, he has a hell of a sense of humor.

[gr8kornholio]

Yea they just did a test of the Tesla suv on the grand tour and it has a ludicrous speed mode. Straight out of space balls.

[Rosebud]

Watching him hold a press conference after the launch, I have become an instant fan of the guy, he has a hell of a sense of humor.

Yeah, he's quite a guy. I heard an analyst on NPR today talking about Musk's plan to colonize Mars with 1 million people by 2025. When the host asked him why, he compared it to having all of your family photos on one hard drive; of course you'd want to back it up. He said all of mankind is currently on one planet. Best we back ourselves up on another planet just in case. Why 1 million? He said 1 million is the critical mass necessary that if and when Earth is no longer viable and no further ships would be arriving to supply the Mars colony, 1 million people would most likely be able to be self-sustaining.

The Mars colony is Musk's ultimate goal. The whole Space-X thing is just a way of paying the bills in the meantime. Makes sense. Cool.

[BruceK]

Um.  2025?   1 million people?   Are both of those numbers correct?  No typos? 

Because there won't be one person on Mars by 2025 let alone 999,999 others.  I understand the need to dream and to set stretch goals, but wouldn't it be a little easier to maybe get a dozen people in a colony on the moon first see how that works out?   Heck we barely keep the ISS going and that is just in Earth orbit.

[Rosebud]

Um.  2025?   1 million people?   Are both of those numbers correct?  No typos? 

Yeah, the timeline seems a bit ambitious, doesn't it? I bet they'll still be folks trickling in by 2026.