Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission [pdf]

Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission [pdf](spacex.com)

55 points by garciagomezluis 8 years ago | 30 comments

dylan604 8 years ago |

I saw the video animation of the Tesla separating from the second stage. At that point, the car no longer has thrust, so I'm assuming they've calculated the thrust to be just enough to reach Mars and to be able to fall into orbit. To quote the movie Apollo 13, "we've just put Isaac Newton in the driver's seat". I dearly hope that Musk and team have been referring to the "dummy" in the driver's seat of the Tesla as Isaac.

dzdt 8 years ago | |

They aren't aiming for Mars orbit. As far as I can tell, they aren't even aiming to come close to Mars. Instead (as far as I can tell) they are aiming to come close to the orbit of Mars, i.e. where Mars will be in 4 or 5 months.

zaroth 8 years ago | | |

Wait, wait wait. If they aren't putting the Tesla into actual orbit, then what about--50 years from now--when they run into a situation on Mars Base Alpha where the only possible solution to an imminent cascading system failure is to dock with the orbiting Roadster and harvest a crucial part from the drivetrain in order to repair their reactor and save the base?!

apeace 8 years ago | | |

> Following launch, Falcon Heavy’s second stage will attempt to place the Roadster into a precessing Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun.

api 8 years ago | | |

So basically they're just throwing a car into space.

garmaine 8 years ago | |

Reading the OPs link it looks like that animation may have had some dramatic license. They are going to do two more mid coarse corrections on the way to “Mars” if I am reading it right. Of course the red planet won’t actually be there on the other side when they get there.

Also note that you can’t “fall into orbit” around Mars, at least not with this sort of trajectory and without an aero rake heat shield. A real mars mission would require a third stage reignition for Mars orbital insertion.

gnode 8 years ago | |

When / if the Tesla nears Mars, it'll be going at escape velocity, and so won't enter orbit. So unless lithobraking is employed, it'll fly straight by, and remain in an orbit around the sun.

Continuing the homage to David Bowie, the dummy driver is called Starman.

mstank 8 years ago | |

From what I understand it won't reach or orbit Mars (not in a current transfer window). It will attempt an approximate Mars-like Hohmann transfer orbit and continue orbiting around the Sun indefinitely.

SteveGregory 8 years ago |

Here’s a to-scale graph of the path each core/stage takes:

https://imgur.com/a/XvPXG

garciagomezluis 8 years ago |

http://www.spacex.com/webcast

owlninja 8 years ago | |

Did it get delayed? YouTube channel now says going live in another 2 hours

ph0rque 8 years ago | | |

"The first test flight of Falcon Heavy is now targeted for Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 3:05 PM ET from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams are watching upper level wind shear and will continue to update as information becomes available."

Shelnutt2 8 years ago | | |

Yes, it is delayed due to upper level winds.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/960920426485399552

kejaed 8 years ago | | |

https://twitter.com/SpaceflightNow

seems to have more up to date status

scrumbledober 8 years ago | | |

It's currently delayed until about an hour before the launch window closes, and they are hoping for the winds to die down. looks unlikely that they will launch today.

EDIT: nevermind fuel is being loaded and the "holy mouse click" has happened.

Axsuul 8 years ago |

This will be a historic flight. It will be interesting regardless the outcome XD

27 engines!

"When Falcon Heavy lifts off in 2018, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two"

scrumbledober 8 years ago | |

the most powerful operational rocket, but not the most powerful ever. I believe the Saturn V was more powerful.

kozziollek 8 years ago | | |

Yes, they say in the same PDF:

> Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit.

Axsuul 8 years ago | | |

Yep, in the "current" world though is what the quote was alluding to.

mstank 8 years ago |

Just got word from a friend that all SpaceX employee names are etched on the Tesla roadster. So either they will orbit indefinitely around the sun or blow up spectacularly.

grecy 8 years ago |

They have just started fueling the rocket. It seems the launch may happen today...

https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF

unixhero 8 years ago |

What a time to be alive