A roar pierced the air at Cape Canaveral in Florida for a few seconds Wednesday. The sound was the cry of the engines on the Falcon Heavy, a massive launch vehicle developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The Heavy had been hauled to the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center for a brief but crucial test that will determine whether the rocket is ready for its maiden flight, which Musk has said will take place later this month. The milestone, known as a static-fire test , involved securely anchoring the Falcon Heavy to the launchpad, loading it with propellant, and then igniting its 27 engines at full thrust. For several seconds, plumes of thick smoke billowed out from the base of the launchpad and created a big white cloud. Musk tweeted shortly after the static fire that the test was "good." Falcon Heavy hold-down firing this morning was good. Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching in a week or so. pic.twitter.com/npaqatbNir — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2018 SpaceX did not broadcast the test online, but the action was livestreamed on social media by journalists staked out on a beach nearby. The action starts at about the 16:22 mark: #FalconHeavy static… Read full this story
- How SpaceX's Falcon Heavy was really a blast from the past
- Elon Musk promises a 'big boom' to Falcon Heavy watchers
- SpaceX lands Air Force Falcon Heavy launch contract
- Starlink is a SUCCESS: Elon Musk sends first tweet using internet connection provided by SpaceX's satellites that he could provide the world with high-speed broadband
- SpaceX says it will provide broadband internet via its Starlink satellites to US customers in 2020
- Elon Musk shows off SpaceX BFR tool (and it's huge)
- SpaceX breaks ground on Falcon Heavy launch site
- SpaceX launch heaps new history on top of old in major first
- SpaceX is ready to test its astronaut capsule again, after one exploded in April
- Welcome to SpaceX City: The Ultimate Startup
All Systems Go for SpaceX's Falcon Heavy have 318 words, post on www.theatlantic.com at January 24, 2018. This is cached page on xBlogs. If you want remove this page, please contact us.