Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that SpaceX had a spectacularly successful, nearly flawless first test of the Falcon Heavy rocket. Unfortunately the center core crashed because there was not enough propellant to enable all of the Merlin engines to power a safe landing. Elon Musk indicated in a news conference, SpaceX will provide the crash video as a blooper reel.
The spectacular launch was followed by nothing short of an incredible dual booster rocket landing that took everyone’s breath away.
To top it all off, Elon Musk’s Roadster was successfully launched into space with the whole thing broadcast live as the car orbited the earth to the tune of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, while a suited up dummy, known as Starman, sat in the drivers seat.
Not since the Apollo missions have people been so excited about a rocket test. This mission has demonstrated something bigger, something everyone had hoped for after the Apollo missions but never materialized; SpaceX is going further and colonizing Mars and they are doing it in style.
Amongst the interviews with Elon, the worldwide coverage of the successful launch and the general post launch euphoria, there is a tangible feeling the baton has been passed, NASA will continue sending probes and launching satellites but the future of space exploration – for the rest of us, belongs to SpaceX.
Images – SpaceX