SpaceX successfully launched the world\u2019s most powerful rocket, a towering behemoth known as the Falcon Heavy that tore through the sky with the thundering force of 18 Boeing 747 jetliners.Lifting off at 3:45 pm from the same launch-pad that sent the crew of Apollo 11 to the moon, the rocket sent up a mountain-sized plume of smoke and a rattling roar across Florida\u2019s Space Coast, where thousands gathered to watch, reports The Washington Post.<\/p>\n
The mission represented the first test of the massive rocket, powered by 27 engines in three first-stage boosters that are estrapped together.<\/p>\n
The maiden flight also marked the first time a privately financed venture ever attempted to launch a rocket so powerful that it was capable of hoisting a payload out of Earth\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n
As a promotional stunt, SpaceX founder Elon Musk loaded the Falcon Heavy with his own cherry-red Tesla Roadster carrying a spacesuit-clad mannequin named \u201cStarman\u201d in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n
Musk said he planned to send the convertible, built by another one of his companies, into an orbit around the sun that would take it near Mars.<\/p>\n
SpaceX topped off the launch by successfully landing two boosters on land, setting off twin sonic booms on their return. A third first-stage, the so-called centre core, crash landed at sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still trying to absorb everything that happened because it seemed surreal to me,\u201d The Washington Post quoted Musk as saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had an image of a giant explosion on the pad with a wheel bouncing down the road and the Tesla logo landing somewhere. But fortunately that\u2019s not what happened. The mission seemed to have gone as well as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
If SpaceX can fly the Falcon Heavy reliably, the rocket could prove useful to the Pentagon for lifting national security satellites and to NASA for helping its human exploration goals.<\/p>\n
The company has said that the rocket is capable of hauling more mass farther than any existing rocket – an estimated 140,000 pounds to low Earth orbit, and nearly 40,000 pounds to Mars.<\/p>\n
After the launch, SpaceX broadcast a live stream from the Roadster in space using the three cameras mounted to the vehicle.<\/p>\n
In addition to carrying a plaque with the names of 6,000 SpaceX employees, the car also transported a data storage device containing Isasac Asimov\u2019s classic Foundation science fiction trilogy.<\/p>\n
IANS<\/p>\n
Picture source: Alamy Image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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