SpaceX confirmed last 6 December that its CEO Elon Musk plans to blast his cherry red electric car off toward the Red Planet when the company's Falcon Heavy rocket launches for the first time next month.
Many wondered if Musk was joking when he tweeted his plans for the Falcon Heavy's inaugural payload to be his "midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity," the classic song by the late David Bowie.
"Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent," the famed space enthusiast and Internet tycoon said on Twitter on Friday.
But SpaceX confirmed to AFP that the plan is for real.
Touted as the "world's most powerful rocket," the Falcon Heavy is designed to one day carry crew and supplies to deep space destinations such as the Moon and Mars.
It can propel 119,000 pounds (54 metric tons) - or the same as a fully loaded Boeing 737 jet - into orbit, twice the load of the Delta IV Heavy, currently the biggest rocket in operation.
The Saturn V moon rocket, which last flew in 1973, was more powerful.
Many wondered if Musk was joking when he tweeted his plans for the Falcon Heavy's inaugural payload to be his "midnight cherry Tesla Roadster playing Space Oddity," the classic song by the late David Bowie.
"Destination is Mars orbit. Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn't blow up on ascent," the famed space enthusiast and Internet tycoon said on Twitter on Friday.
But SpaceX confirmed to AFP that the plan is for real.
Touted as the "world's most powerful rocket," the Falcon Heavy is designed to one day carry crew and supplies to deep space destinations such as the Moon and Mars.
It can propel 119,000 pounds (54 metric tons) - or the same as a fully loaded Boeing 737 jet - into orbit, twice the load of the Delta IV Heavy, currently the biggest rocket in operation.
The Saturn V moon rocket, which last flew in 1973, was more powerful.
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