Elon Musk & 21st Century Travel
Tesla Roadster with 'Starman' driving to Mars (credit: SpaceX Corporation )
SpaceX successfully launched their commercial Falcon Heavy rocket with its two reusable booster rockets. With this success, Elon Mush shows that 21st Century space travel has fully arrived. The goal for the new transport vehicle is to carry humans to eventually carry humans to the Moon and Mars. Musk and his SpaceX team of scientists, engineers, and business managers used 'out of the box' thinking to realize these excellent results. By investing in creative strategies, new materials, and applying all the engineering tools of advanced technology Musk showed that remarkable progress is possible.
SpaceX also demonstrated that patience and taking big risks can be rewarding. According to the Company, the Falcon Heavy was designed to lift 64 metric tons (141,000 lb)---a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel---carrying more than twice the payload weight of its closest competitor. NASA rockets used for carrying similar heavy payloads typically cost ~$10,000/ton to launch. By adding two reusable booster rockets to their original Falcon design, SpaceX reduced the expense to ~$1,000/ton, a 10x decrease in cost-to-launch. The simultaneous landing of the sleek boosters could have easily been a choreographed dance performance.
The Falcon Heavy was recorded thundering off the launch-pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida and broadcast via a live video feed on the rocket. With the panache of a natural showman, Elon Musk attached a Tesla Roadster with a robotic driver, Starman, to the huge rocket. The vehicle was ejected once beyond the Earth's atmosphere and and sent racing towards Mars at 18,000mph. Music by the legendary performance artist David Bowie was a fitting accompaniment to Starman's journey.
The era of 21st Century space travel has now begun. SpaceX and Elon Musk's talented teams are leading the way even if the Tesla Roadster will never reach its destination in one piece. Dreaming big can pay off.
WHB