Elon Musk to launch his Tesla Roadster to Mars, blasting David Bowie's "Space Oddity"

When this first came out, it was claimed that Elon Musk was just having a bit of fun, but now he claims it is 100% real. The launch is coming next month, so we won't have to wait very long to see just how serious he is. It's great to see somebody as successful as Elon Musk still have a personality and still be able to have a bit of fun while hes trying to push humanity to new heights. All I can say is good luck Mr.Musk!

A gorgeous car blasting David Bowie on the way to Mars.. I mean, how cool is that?





And here is a cool bonus clip from Elon Musk himself, for those that missed it the first time.10/10

Free car to the first person on Mars!

All the best luck to Elon!!

The rocket is also carrying the only copy of his tax records.

originally posted by: Ohanka
The rocket is also carrying the only copy of his tax records.

Think the Donald got his on there too?


Good on ya Mr. Musk. Every boys dream to have so much money you can privately go to space.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds this to be an insane and frivolous waste of resources even if he does pay it all himself!

I don't know if they have accurate data or guesses as to how far this new Mars "rover" will get but I'm wondering how it can be recharged? Is there perhaps some secret dealership there NASA has been covering up all these years? WHAT IS THE POINT??? Methinks the late Mr. Tesla would be turning in his grave about now...

Some people got way too much money.

a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Why does the payload have to be useless garbage and not something already preparing colonisation like a com-satellite?

a reply to: Peeple

It's an experimental rocket and might blow up. Doesn't makes sense to put a valuable science payload on it and it's cheap advertising for his other company.

Elon Musk has said he intends to launch the "silliest thing we can imagine" on the maiden launch of the Falcon Heavy. This is partly because the rocket is experimental—there is a non-trivial chance the rocket will explode on the launch pad or shortly after launch. It is also partly because Musk is a master showman who knows how to grab attention.

originally posted by: Butterfinger
Free car to the first person on Mars!

All the best luck to Elon!!

It would be in orbit, so a tricky rendezvous with a shiny red prize.

Musk also stated just getting this monster off the ground would be a big success. And that either way it will be quite a spectacle.

I hope all goes well. It will be a nice step towards getting feet on Mars.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Why does the payload have to be useless garbage and not something already preparing colonisation like a com-satellite?

Would you put a priceless satellite that cost millions on the top of an untested rocket? Musk must test Falcon Heavy as a proof of concept before anyone will, just like every other rocket in the entire world has done over the last 50 years. Why not get some publicity from it? That's worth millions by itself.

I agree it will more than likely blow up. Wasting a car he could have donated to a charitable cause for advertisement and advancement of a cause.

There is better tech for building cars anyhow, batteries are resource dependant and problematic to recycle and dispose.

Well of course, if it was just sitting on the surface that'd just be giving it away!

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Why does the payload have to be useless garbage and not something already preparing colonisation like a com-satellite?

Ummm...with a payload capacity of 119,000 lbs...maybe they'll squeeze a 3-D printer or two onboard that could begin printing the base out of that red oxide dust...a couple small reactors wouldn't hurt either...

IMO it would make sense to send the load heavy in order to fully test the systems...








YouSir

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

The technology to land a rocket after launch didn't exists till elon invented it.
Now it does.
It is the beginning of real human built landable , reusable,space craft.
Frivolous?
You do understand that people like elon who were willing to put the time and effort into creating something . With failure after failure after failure, is the very reason you and I can even have this conversation right now, right?

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: knowledgehunter0986

Why does the payload have to be useless garbage and not something already preparing colonisation like a com-satellite?

They will do that once they work out all the bugs.
Right now elon isn't sure that his rocket will even make it all the way to mars at all.

I didn't know the thing got a 50/50 to blow, than it's okay.

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

Personally, I don't think any endeavor towards uncharted territory, especially another planet, for possibly the sake of humanity, would be frivolous or a waste of resources. If you're talking about the car, I don't think sending one of his own vehicles is a big deal. But it is cool!

a reply to: scraedtosleep

Frivolous? How does going to a dead, dry and barren planet contribute anything to the humans here on Earth? There might be a little frozen water somewhere, according to some but I doubt it will be enough to sustain "life" in any real numbers. Without light-speed travel or better, we ain't realistically going anywhere.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
Without light-speed travel or better, we ain't realistically going anywhere.

Pretty much. We just don't have the bodies for it. Our superintelligent AI offspring, however, can just go into sleep mode and wait 40,000 years to get to another star system. Time and isolation and lack of water won't mean anything to them.

originally posted by: LightSpeedDriver
a reply to: scraedtosleep

Frivolous? How does going to a dead, dry and barren planet contribute anything to the humans here on Earth? There might be a little frozen water somewhere, according to some but I doubt it will be enough to sustain "life" in any real numbers. Without light-speed travel or better, we ain't realistically going anywhere.

Because we will have to invent new technologies to do it. Those advances will become part of normal human societies.
We will never achieve light speed travel unless we try things like this.
I guess your not aware of this but a lot of the tech you use in your everyday life came from the space program.
For example: cochlear implants and CMOS image sensors. en.wikipedia.org...