Is Elon Musk the best, or the Greatest?

Last week SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy into space. It was only a test flight, but it lit the imagine of millions of people and gave a glimpse of where space travel is headed. In this episode, we gush a little about Elon Musk and SpaceX.

SpaceX Show Notes

Leadup:

• The “failed” Zuma launch, Loren Grush, The Verge
• Falcon Heavy Has A 50-50 Chance of Success -Musk, ERIC BERGER, Ars Technica
• Government Shutdown Was Going To Delay The Launch, Swapna Krishna, Engadget

What is the Falcon Heavy:

• Two standard Falcon 9’s
• One specialized “Core”
• A second stage
• Payload to Low Earth Orbit is 140,700 lb
• 230 ft Tall
• White and Black
• 9 Merlin Engines per booster (27 total)
• 1,700,000 lbf
• One Tesla Roadster and a spaceman
• A Saturn 5 Comparison

The Launch:

• The Simultaneous Landing of Two Falcon 9’s
• Lost the Core at Sea, only one of the three necessary engines fired
  • The failures are more energizing than the successes
• Overshot mars with the car, but still, screaming success

Why it’s important:

• Inspiring kids
• Testing out the falcon Heavy
• The largest booster in production (And it’s nutty cheap)

The future:

• Military launch missions
• The BFR
• Moon Trips With the Dragon Capsule
• Mars And the nascent space race, Aylin Woodward, Futurism
• Flame throwers?