FASTEST RED CAR IN THE UNIVERSE!

Who in their right mind would ever want to blast their prized race car into space? And who could actually pull that off? Elon Musk can and did.

On February 6, 2018, Musk’s own personal cherry red Tesla roadster launched into space aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, headed toward a beautiful red destination: Mars! For real!

Musk was in a unique position to be able to actualize this race car rocket ship fantasy because he is founder of both Tesla and SpaceX.

"Red car for a red planet," Musk tweeted.

The Falcon Heavy rocket launched into its maiden voyage from a pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The rocket – the biggest and most powerful system SpaceX has ever built – carried Musk's red 2008 Tesla Roadster to demonstrate how the company might someday help deliver people and other payloads into space. That made it the fastest moving car in the universe (as far as we know, that is).

The red car will be orbiting between the Sun and the red planet in what's called a hyperbolic orbit, a nearly infinite loop, also known as a Hohmann transfer orbit.

Musk’s Tesla is carrying a dummy driver, named “Starman,” wearing a SpaceX space suit. The car is playing David Bowie’s Space Oddity to keep the dummy amused.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy system could one day ferry a payload of 37,000 pounds – roughly 14 Tesla Roadsters' worth of mass – to Mars. Teslas are already in high demand on preorders! This will certainly add some pressure!

Musk is already planning future Falcon Heavy launches, including a private lunar voyage for two “regular” civilians.

The 230-foot-tall (70-metre-tall) Falcon Heavy system relies on 3 reusable boosters, which are each made of 9 cone-shaped engines. Unlike most booster systems, these rocket-pushers reusable. They detach, land back on earth, and get refurbished for reuse. This makes the cost of a mission about ⅓ of what it’s been in the past.

The Falcon Heavy rocket is also capable of carrying roughly 2.6 times as much cargo as the US space shuttle program did.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who is privately funding his own space mission, Blue Origin, is rooting for Musk’s success. And so are we! We also want our own red hot Teslas! Don’t you?

Read more about Beautiful Cherry Red in Take A Beautiful Cherry Trip, Cherries Rock Your Body, Cherry Red Inspirations, Beautiful Unexpected Cherry Blossom Trips, The Art & Science of Cherries and These Cherry Pies Will Steal Your Heart!

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission.” Courtesy of SpaceX.
2. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission - Payload.” Courtesy of SpaceX.  
3. Image: “Tesla Model 3.” Courtesy of Tesla.
4. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission.” Courtesy of SpaceX.
5. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission.” Courtesy of SpaceX.
6. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission - Payload.” Courtesy of SpaceX.  
7. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission - Payload.” Courtesy of SpaceX.  
8. Image: “Tesla Roadster.” Courtesy of Tesla.
9. Image: “Tesla Model S.” Courtesy of Tesla.
10. Image: “2020 Roadster 11.” Courtesy of Tesla.
11. Image: “Falcon Heavy Demo Mission.” Courtesy of SpaceX.