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Elon Musk sends his Tesla into Space

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Questions: (Answer questions in complete sentences on a piece of Binder Paper)

1) Why did Musk decide to send a real car on this journey and not a test/dummy-load as cargo?

2) The Falcon Heavy is the largest, most powerful of the SpaceX rockets but it will not shuttle people into space. What will the Falcon Heavy transport?

3) What is Musk's overriding goal in this SpaceX/Falcon Heavy project?

4) What is the plan for establishing a city on Mars? List and describe the steps.

5) How is Musk able to do these launches in such a financially/economically feasible way? (How is he saving money)

Elon Musk sends his own car on a new SpaceX rocket test flight

By Associated Press, adapted by Newsela staff

175 Grade Level / 8

02/15/2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — The world's first space sports car is cruising in outer space, well beyond Mars.

SpaceX chief Elon Musk confirmed the new, more distant route for his rocketing Tesla Roadster. The red electric car was the unorthodox cargo aboard his company's brand new Falcon Heavy rocket during a test flight on February 6.

With the successful launch, the Heavy became the most powerful rocket flying these days.

And Musk's Roadster became the fastest car ever, hurtling off the planet and zooming away on a route that will now take it all the way to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid belt is a region occupied by many unusually shaped space rocks and small planets.

Musk said the final firing of the rocket's booster engine put his car on a more distant flight path than anticipated. Not only is it headed toward Mars, but almost to the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt.

"Starman" Is On A Mission To Space

A mannequin dressed in a SpaceX spacesuit — dubbed "Starman" by Musk — is strapped in behind the car's wheel. Usually, test flights carry nothing of value, like concrete blocks. Musk found that "boring" and put his cherry-red Tesla on top. He's in charge of the carmaker Tesla as well as the private space company SpaceX.

Images of "Starman," a name taken from a David Bowie song, in the driver's seat of the Roadster burned up the Internet long after the launch. The mannequin and the car flew against the backdrop of our blue planet.

"I think it looks so ridiculous and impossible. You can tell it's real because it looks so fake, honestly," Musk said. "It's still tripping me out."

The Roadster is on an even longer journey now that stretches from Earth on one end, all the way to the neighborhood of Ceres on the other. The original plan had the car traveling only as far as Mars, coming close to the red planet but hopefully not nicking it. If it survives the swarming asteroid belt, the car and "Starman" are expected to continue orbiting for millions, if not billions, of years.

Even Astronauts Are Impressed

Like so many others, NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold was awe-struck by the live streaming of "Starman" and his ride. Arnold is preparing for his own ride to the International Space Station next month.

"Perfect day for a cruise in a ragtop," Arnold tweeted, offering congratulations to SpaceX. "Awesome! At this speed, two hands on the steering wheel please #Starman."

And Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step onto the moon, also celebrated after watching the rocket soar "from my favorite launch pad." The Heavy lifted off from the same spot as NASA's now-retired but more powerful Saturn V moon rockets and space shuttles. The Heavy is a combo of three Falcon 9s that SpaceX uses to ship space station supplies and launch satellites for customers.

Mars is driving all of Musk's space efforts.

Musk said he doesn't plan to fly people on the Heavy — that will mainly be used to launch supersize satellites. But he's accelerating development of an even bigger rocket for deep-space crews — "a beast."

Big Plans For Mars

His overriding goal is to establish a city on Mars, sending people there in a flotilla of SpaceX spaceships launched by colossal SpaceX rockets. Before dashing off to the red planet, Musk said he'd want to try out this spaceship aboard the supersize rocket in orbit around Earth, possibly in three to four years. The next step would be an orbit around the moon.

At a news conference after the launch, Musk told reporters that as early as next year, he may begin test flights of the mega spaceship in Texas. These short hops would take the ship several miles high and then back down for a landing. It's the landing part that's especially hard, he noted, especially at the speed in which the spacecraft will be traveling when it comes in for a touchdown on another planet.

The success of the Heavy provides a confidence boost to these future plans, Musk said. Two of the three first-stage boosters flew back for side-by-side landings; the third was lost at sea.

This rocket recycling is the key to SpaceX's cost-cutting launch plans. The Falcon Heavy is listed at $90 million, a bargain in the rocket business.

Musk Encourages A Space Race

The president of the Mars Society, a group intent on exploring and settling Mars, cheered SpaceX's achievement — and reduced price. "This is a revolution," Robert Zubrin said. "The naysayers have been completely refuted."

In the meantime, with the Heavy demo out of the way, Musk said SpaceX is putting its commercial crew effort for NASA front and center. He said the company is still on track to launch astronauts in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, at the end of this year.

SpaceX is competing with the company Boeing to be the first to send Americans into orbit from U.S. soil again. This hasn't happened since NASA's last shuttle flight in 2011. U.S. astronauts have been riding Russian rockets, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a seat, to get to the space station since the shuttle program ended in 2011.

Musk said SpaceX used only its own money to finance the Heavy, investing more than $500 million in development costs. He's hoping that will encourage other companies and countries "to raise their sights and say, 'Hey, we can do bigger and better,' which is great."

"We want a new space race," he said.

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