SpaceX Has Received Permission From the US Government To Launch Elon Musk's Car Toward Mars (businessinsider.com)

SpaceX this week is preparing to launch Falcon Heavy, the biggest rocket in the company's history, for the first time. From a report: The 230-foot-tall three-booster launcher is scheduled to blast off Tuesday between 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET. SpaceX says Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in the world. SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, wanted this test launch to happen as early as 2013, though he recently said it could end in an explosion. Instead of putting a standard "mass simulator" or dummy payload atop Falcon Heavy, Musk -- who once launched a wheel of cheese into orbit -- will put his personal 2008 midnight-cherry-red Tesla Roadster on top of the monster rocket. In an Instagram post over the weekend, Musk also revealed that the car would carry a dummy driver, which Musk is calling "Starman," wearing a SpaceX space suit. "Test flights of new rockets usually contain mass simulators in the form of concrete or steel blocks. That seemed extremely boring," Musk said in an Instagram post in December, adding that the company "decided to send something unusual, something that made us feel." However, all rocket payloads need a permit from the Federal Aviation Administration to launch, and Musk's sleek electric car is no exception. The FAA granted SpaceX that permission on Friday in a staunchly formal notice, which Keith Cowing posted on NASA Watch.

Comments

Fastest Car in History. =D

[foxalopex]

Although this one will probably be adrift in space, I just realized that they could claim the title of the fastest car in history since it'll be zooming through space at speeds not possible on land. Too bad it won't be under it's own power.

Elon's rocket is smaller and weaker...

[VeryFluffyBunny]

Elon's rocket thrusts 63,800 Kg into low earth orbit. Back in the 60s, NASA's Saturn V was thrusting it's massive payload of 140,000 Kg into low earth orbit. NASA had a truly magnificent thrusting machine while Elon's flaccid little fire tube is less than half as large and powerful.

Re:"Toward", not "To"

[93 Escort Wagon]

I'm waiting for the Star Trek follow-up movie about the return of T'la to the planet Earth in 300 years.

Re:With Musk in it?

[RatherBeAnonymous]

The dummy is the autopilot. It will be vinyl and sport a smug grin. The real question is, how will they convince Julie Hagerty to go along as co-pilot to re-inflate it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:What kind of crock idea is this?

[ScentCone]

Launching a car in to space? Why? What the heck is this saying "Except" Elon Musk can be a complete "Idiot" at times.

I know! Why would we testing a rocket by using a car as a test mass when we could, instead, help all of humanity by launching some of our surplus double-quotes, which seem to turn up, like invasive mussels in the Great Lakes that don't belong there and make their users look foolish, everywhere.