Elation as Elon Musk's SpaceX pulls off historic rocket launch
On board was Musk's cherry red Tesla Roadster, with 'Starman' at the wheel, adding a touch of humour to a momentous occasion
San Francisco — An elated Elon Musk pulled off another seemingly impossible feat on Tuesday when SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket in 45 years, then flew two of its spent boosters back to the Florida coast for a spectacular, simultaneous recovery on land. With hordes of fans gathered along the Florida space coast, the new rocket rumbled aloft under clear skies shortly after 3.45pm local time. The live stream of the Falcon Heavy Test Flight was the second most watched in YouTube’s history, reaching more than 2.3-million concurrent views, and the launch led all three television network broadcasts in the US on Tuesday evening. Falcon Heavy cleared the launch pad without blowing up — a feat Musk had said would be enough to deem the mission a win. It continued on to deliver Musk’s cherry red Tesla Roadster, with a space-suit wearing mannequin at the wheel, towards an Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun. "It seems surreal to me," Musk said at a post-launch press conf...
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