Posted on 02/07/2018 4:54:26 PM PST by BenLurkin
In a late-night update, Musk announced that the Falcon Heavy stage did survive its daring slog through the Van Allen belts.
"Third burn successful," Musk wrote on Twitter. "Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt."
Starman and the Roadster are now flying in a long, elliptical orbit around the sun. At its farthest point, that orbit extends nearly 243 million miles (390 million kilometers). That's 2.61 times the average distance between Earth and the sun, which is, on average, about 93 million miles (150 million km).
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
SpaceX is a NASA contractor only for deliveries by Falcon 9 and Dragon to the International Space Station and possibly some future satellite launches, but the Falcon 9 Heavy was entirely a SpaceX run development AFAIK. If NASA were funding F9H there would have been a work force twice as large having a lot of meetings and writing reports but the hardware would still be in its infancy.
NASA did support the original F9 development with $500M in Space Act funding but had limited oversight and control, mostly regarding safety aspects.
Yeah. And what do they send into space? A damned car!
“Where we’re going we don’t need...roads.”
Heavy Metal.
Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that it was put into an earth crossing obit? If he had saved a little fuel and fired motors at aphelion, it would be in a higher orbit and never come near the earth.
As long as they make money and I don’t pay for that— I am ok!! Are you or do you want communism?
How much did that cost the taxpayers a line smelly Musks pockets?
If you aim at a Mars orbit and end up in the asteroid belt that’s a horrible, horrible failure.
That guy riding in the Tesla is going to be really peeved.
Apparently this may be what they are aiming for with a future car launch...
https://youtu.be/t_KXgFpguE0?t=37s
Your right... Government Employee Insurance COmpany (GEICO) will not cover that expense. But they will be glad to accept payments as long as possible....
I hate Tesla, but Space X is VERY Cool.
Muck may be fleecing is less than NASA
That would make a nice future souvenir.
Me and my spaceship will pick it up 40 years from now if an alien UFO doesn’t get it first.
There is the rub, but it’s still damn impressive.
A month ago Falcon Heavy lost a spook satellite (so they say)
For all we know Starman works for NSA LOL (the orbit suggests its a diversion from the lost satellite)
Boom! look at this sideshow!
Women were not invited to break the glass ceiling /S
I’m with you - even companies sitting on a ton of cash can’t come close to matching SpaceX, or at least haven’t been able to.
I’m certainly no fan of Musk, as Tesla can go to hell, in my book - but I have to give him credit here, what he’s done is amazing, and much, much, cheaper than anyone else.
Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that it was put into an earth crossing obit?
Not to worry. The Tesla is tiny enough that if it got pulled into Earths gravity well, it would burn up in the atmosphere.
Too bad they can’t launch all of them into space.
Elon Musks growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies
...
That makes up about 6% of the market capital of his companies. Even less if you consider your figure from the LATimes includes a $500 million loan that was paid back within weeks.
It’s strange how those with a cognitive bias against Musk only focus on one thing. You’re really missing out on one of the greatest American success stories of all time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.