Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to launch its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center the afternoon of February 6. Musk’s cherry red Tesla Roadster will serve as payload for the test flight, a “red car for the red planet”, according to Musk. If everything goes as planned, the Roadster will be sent towards Mars Orbit for its 225 million km test drive while playing “Space Oddity” by the late legend David Bowie.
Ahead of the launch, SpaceX uploaded a new animated video on its YouTube channel demonstrating what it will look like when the new giant Falcon Heavy rocket releases a Tesla Roadster into space, with another Bowie’s hit song “Life on Mars?” playing in the background.
As exciting as it may seem, Musk himself has already stated that many factors could turn this maiden voyage into a giant fireball. But if it succeeds, Falcon Heavy will be the biggest and most powerful rocket launched into space since NASA’s giant Saturn V in 1973.
Update: SpaceX has successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 20:45 GMT. Watch the video below to see how it all went down (or is that up?).
