Last night on Twitter, SpaceX boss Elon Musk tweeted about the upcoming debut launch of the company’s Falcon Heavy vehicle:
Falcon Heavy to launch next month from Apollo 11 pad at the Cape. Will have double thrust of next largest rocket. Guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2017
The Falcon Heavy will be the world’s most powerful operational rocket when it finally launches, with the ability to lift 54 metric tons. That’s still shy of NASA’s retired Saturn V rocket that took men to the moon, but it is twice the horsepower of the Delta IV Heavy, the current record holder. The rocket is constructed from three of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets being strapped together.
It will be rated for both cargo and crew, and according to SpaceX, will be in service for both lunar and Mars missions in the future.
The vehicle’s initial launch has been delayed several times, but it looks like its time may finally have come. The test payload, however, has not been discussed until now:
Payload will be my midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity. Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2017
There’s mixed reporting on whether the payload tweet was a joke or not. I want to believe Musk, and the idea is just bananas enough to be possible.
But yeah, he’s probably just screwing around.