Is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is planning to combine two of his most famous ventures into one out of this world stunt?
On Friday, Musk announced plans to shoot his popular car into an outer space voyage to Mars next month. In a tweet, the billionaire inventor said the cargo for his upcoming Falcon Heavy launch would include his very own Tesla Roadster.
“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,” said Musk. “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.”
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
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
That last bit about blowing up is likely an allusion to the recent — and disastrous — attempted SpaceX launch of Falcon 9, a rocket that exploded on the launchpad in Texas last year. An investigation by SpaceX later concluded that the rocket burnt up after as a result of super cold oxygen mixing with carbon fiber located in the fuel tank, Popular Science reported.
Despite the incident, SpaceX remains determined to lead the way on human to Mars spaceflight. “Falcon Heavy was designed from the outset to carry humans into space and restores the possibility of flying missions with crew to the Moon or Mars,” a company explainer on the rocket states.
Musk, however, may have been getting a bit ahead of himself with the tweets, as Verge reported that the Tesla chief could have been joking.
The company did not immediately respond to request for clarification from TheWrap on Saturday.