This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tdadamemd sioz(talk | contribs) at 11:01, 7 February 2018(→Timeline: Reports have quoted Musk as stating that the center core failed to land properly, and that it crashed with a high impact speed of ~200mph. Damage to the recovery platform has also been reported.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.Revision as of 11:01, 7 February 2018 by Tdadamemd sioz(talk | contribs)(→Timeline: Reports have quoted Musk as stating that the center core failed to land properly, and that it crashed with a high impact speed of ~200mph. Damage to the recovery platform has also been reported.)
The Falcon Heavy Demonstration Mission (also known as the Falcon Heavy Test Flight or Falcon Heavy Maiden Flight) was the first attempt by SpaceX to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket, on 6 February 2018 at 20:45UTC.[1] The launch made spaceflight history by introducing the most powerful rocket currently in operation,[2] twice as powerful as the next most powerful rocket in current operation.[3]
Test overview
The mission was the test flight of the Falcon Heavy launcher, intended to demonstrate the capability of the launcher while gathering telemetry throughout the flight.
The payload, Elon Musk's original Roadster, mounted on the payload adapter inside the payload fairing.
The dummy payload for this test launch was SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's own midnight cherry red car, a first generation TeslaRoadster. SpaceX stated that the payload had to be "something fun and without irreplaceable sentimental value".[1] Sitting in the driver's seat of the Roadster is "Starman", a dummy astronaut clad in a SpaceX spacesuit.[4]
Test
The Falcon Heavy maiden flight was intended to accomplish several objectives: to successfully return the two side booster cores to Cape Canaveral and land them simultaneously at Landing Zones 1 and 2, and land the central first stage booster core on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, the Of Course I Still Love You, in the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket's three booster cores were first stage Falcon 9 rockets, while its upper stage was a Falcon 9 upper stage.[3][4][5] The purpose of including the Roadster on the maiden flight is to demonstrate that the Falcon Heavy can launch payloads as far as the orbit of Mars.
The launch occurred at 3:45 PM EST, or 20:45 UTC, from Launchpad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida; the Roadster was successfully placed in its orbit, and its two booster cores returned to land at Landing Zones 1 and 2 several minutes later. The sole objective not completed was the landing of the central core; while its fate was initially ambiguous due to signal loss and heavy smoke, Musk confirmed several hours after the launch that the booster had not survived the recovery attempt.[6]Because two of the three engines necessary to land were unable to reignite, the booster hit the water at 500 kilometres per hour, 100 metres away from the drone ship.[7] While upper stage flight is continued, during the transfer burn to solar orbit, the second stage overshot the orbit of Mars. It is predicted that the Roadster will stay in an orbit with a perihelion at Earth orbit and an aphelion near the orbit of the dwarf planet Ceres in the Asteroid Belt.[8][9]
Timeline
The planned mission timeline is (all times approximate):[1]
Missions are ordered by launch date. Sign † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned. ‡ indicates use of the planet as a gravity assist en route to another destination.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
Falcon Heavy takes off for the very first time
Vehicle Assembly Building with Falcon Heavy taking off in the background
The two side boosters arriving at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
The two boosters landing at LZ-1 and LZ-2
Expected elliptical orbital path outside Mars
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