A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
Photo: Reuters
The private space company SpaceX has launched its largest rocket yet Tuesday, sending a cherry red Tesla Roadster into an elliptical Earth-Mars orbit.
The Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on the same launch pad from which NASA's Apollo 11 lifted off in 1969 on the first mission that landed astronauts on the moon.
A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Feb. 6, 2018.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told reporters before the launch Tuesday he "would consider it a win if it just clears the pad and doesn't blow the pad to smithereens."
Elon Musk, founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX, speaks at a news conference after the Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket launched successfully from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
The rocket is equipped with three boosters and 27 engines designed to provide more than 2 million kilograms of thrust. If successful, it will be the most powerful rocket in use today, and the most powerful used since NASA's Saturn 5 rockets last carried astronauts to the moon 45 years ago.
Two booster rockets from the Falcon 9 SpaceX Heavy, return for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Feb. 6, 2018.
Spectators at Cocoa Beach watch SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
The Falcon Heavy was first designed to send humans to the moon or Mars, but Musk said Monday it is now being considered as a carrier of equipment and supplies to deep space destinations.
The Falcon Heavy has three first-stage boosters, strapped together with 27 engines in all.
While such test rockets usually use items like steel or concrete slabs as payload, but the Tesla Roadster made by another company owned by Musk, carried a mannequin "Starman" sitting at the wheel and the radio set to play David Bowie's classic hit Space Oddity on a loop.
"Starman" sits behind the wheel of a Tesla roadster in this photo posted to the Instagram account of Elon Musk, head of the Tesla car company and founder of SpaceX.
In a tweet last month, Musk said he loves the thought of a car driving -apparently endlessly through space and, perhaps being discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future.
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy takes off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Feb. 6, 2018, on its demonstration mission.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket leaves a smoke trail behind after lifting off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
Spectators at Cocoa Beach watch SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Feb. 6, 2018.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket trails flames after lifting off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Feb. 6, 2018.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
Visitors stake out spots near the fishing pier at Jetty Park to watch SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Feb. 6, 2018.
A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket stands ready for launch on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Feb. 5, 2018.
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