Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
Saturday, February 6, 2021
Tesla Roadster
2018-017A
The first Falcon Heavy test flight was carried out in Feb 2018; Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster car was attached to the second stage payload adapter. In the car's seat was a mannequin, Starman, wearing a prototype SpaceX spacesuit.
Falcon Heavy's two side cores were previously flown Falcon 9 first stages; they separated from the newly built central core stage and returned to Cape Canaveral, with simultaneous landings at the LZ1 and LZ2 pads in the old Pad 13 area.
The center core separated and, following boostback and entry burns, attempted a 3-engine landing on the OCISLY droneship. Only one of the three engines ignited and the rocket crashed in the ocean 100 m from the ship at 500 km/hr; the debris damaged the ship. OCISLY was at 29 0 20 N 77 07 55 W.
The second stage reached a low parking orbit, coasted to the equator, and reignited to enter an elliptical orbit with a 6951 km apogee. Spending two revolutions in this orbit exposed the stage to Van Allen belt radiation; together with the next restart following a five hour coast, this qualified the vehicle for GEO delivery missions.
The third stage 2 burn accelerated the stack to escape velocity, and the Roadster and second stage entered a 0.98 x 2.61 AU heliocentric orbit.
| FH DEMO | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Feb 6 | 2045 | Launch by FH-1 | KSC LC39A |
| T+2:29 BECO | |||
| T+2:33 Side cores sep | |||
| T+2:50 Side cores boostback burn | |||
| T+3:04 Center core MECO | |||
| T+3:07 Center core sep | |||
| T+3:15 St 2 SEIG | |||
| T+3:25 Center core boostback burn | |||
| T+3:49 Fairing | |||
| T+6:41 Side cores entry burn | |||
| T+6:47 Center core entry burn | |||
| T+7:58 Side core landings | |||
| T+8:19 Center core landing | |||
| 2053 | T+8:31 SECO-1 | 180? x 180? x 29.0? | |
| 2113 | T+28:22 SEIG-2 | ||
| 2113 | T+28:52 SECO-2 | 180 x 6951 x 29.0 | |
| 2018 Feb 7 | 0230 | SEIG-3 | |
| 0232? | SECO-3 | 0.98 x 2.61 x ?, C3 = 12.0 | |
| 761 x -79711 x 28.90 C3=12.04 | |||
| 1114 | Pass EL1:4 | ||
| 2018 Feb 8 | 0445 | Pass lunar orbit | |
| 2018 Feb 11 | 1825 | Depart Hill sphere | |