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![\"elon](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/musk-1.jpg?resize=195%2C195\")
<\/p>\nWatch Elon Musk Launch a Tesla Roadster into Space Aboard Mankind\u2019s Heaviest Rocket<\/b>
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In a launch today that will be as much showmanship as it is engineering, Elon Musk will launch his cherry red Tesla roadster into space aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket.<\/p>\n
Watch it LIVE in the video<\/a> above, starting at 1:30 pm ET. The launch window goes until 4 pm ET. Click HERE<\/a> to open this page in a new tab.<\/p>\n The rocket will be \u201cthe most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two\u201d once it lifts off and has \u201ca mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage and fuel\u201d according to SpaceX. It will launch from\u00a0NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, from a launch pad used for\u00a0the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon and several Space Shuttle missions.<\/p>\n Musk has said it\u2019s unclear how the three rockets will behave next to each other and their proximity could result in a spectacular failure.<\/p>\n Musk released an animation of the planned journey of the Tesla Roadster, which will have a spacesuit-wearing mannequin (named \u201cStarman\u201d, of course) in its passenger seat, if all goes as planned. The car will be playing Bowie\u2019s \u201cSpace Oddity\u201d.<\/p>\n Watch the launch in the video<\/a> up top.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the animation of what Musk envisions, if all goes as planned, set to David Bowie\u2019s \u201cLife on Mars:\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Verge explains what\u2019s going to happen, according to Musk<\/a>:<\/p>\n In case you haven\u2019t heard, there\u2019s an original Tesla Roadster\u00a0sitting atop the Falcon Heavy<\/a>. As long as the rocket doesn\u2019t explode, the Roadster will be\u00a0sent on a wide orbit around Mars<\/a>. Musk revealed a new wrinkle in this plan on the call<\/a>: Instead of separating the car from the rocket\u2019s third stage shortly after leaving Earth\u2019s atmosphere, the third stage (and the car aboard it) will instead enter a six-hour \u201ccoast\u201d through the Van Allen radiation belts.<\/p>\n The goal is to\u00a0demonstrate a new capability to the Air Force and other potential military customers<\/a>. But it comes with some risk. \u201c[The rocket stage is] going to experience a lot of radioactivity and high energy particles. It\u2019s going to get whacked pretty hard,\u201d Musk said. \u201cThe fuel could freeze, and the oxygen could be vaporize, all of which could inhibit the third burn which is necessary for [the Tesla\u2019s] trans<\/a>-Mars injection.\u201d If something goes wrong during this time, the rocket stage \u2014 and the Roadster \u2014 might never fully escape Earth orbit, and would instead eventually burn up in our atmosphere.<\/p>\n But if all goes well, the rocket stage will eject the Roadster on a path toward Mars. At that point, Musk said he\u2019s not worried about the Roadster\u2019s health. The car has a \u201ctiny, tiny chance\u201d of crashing into Mars, Musk says. \u201cIt will be fine. I hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, there are three cameras<\/a> strapped to the car. It\u2019s not clear what they\u2019ll capture.<\/p>\n First static fire test of Falcon Heavy complete\u2014one step closer to first test flight! pic.twitter.com\/EZF4JOT8e4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 24, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The post Watch Elon Musk Launch a Tesla Roadster into Space Aboard Mankind\u2019s Heaviest Rocket<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n