(wondrous music)
- [Loren] We've come to see the launch of
SpaceX's next big rocket, the Falcon Heavy.
This vehicle can create more than five million pounds
of thrust at liftoff, and is capable of putting
around 140,000 pounds into lower Earth orbit.
That's more than twice the weight that any other rocket
currently on the market can carry.
So right now, the Falcon Heavy holds the title
for the most powerful rocket in the world.
- I'm very excited about this launch because
I think this is gonna really show
that we can do giant rockets again.
Most space organizations, government or commercial,
have set their sights too low.
They've really built relatively small rockets.
And Falcon Heavy is the first time
that there's something that's arguably
even in the super heavy class or somewhere between
heavy and super heavy.
Showing that you can launch a giant rocket
and have it be commercially viable,
carry satellites, potentially carry people,
Falcon Heavy is capable of actually taking
a dragon mission of taking people around the moon.
- Is there any update on that, by the way? (laughs)
- Not yet. - Not yet.
- We're sort of debating whether to do that
on Falcon Heavy or BFR, it will all sort of depend on
how well the BFR development's going as to
whether we focus on BFR for deep space human flight
or whether we do that on Falcon Heavy.
- What do you see has been the biggest challenge
for making this rocket fly?
- The biggest challenge of getting to the launch pad
has been that we had to fully redesign the center core.
The load going through the center core is
much greater than would normally go through
a Falcon 9 rocket.
Each of the side boosters is putting in
a half million pounds of thrust into the center core.
So you have an incremental million pounds of force
going through that center core,
which means we had to really redesign
almost the entire stage,
all the way through the inner stage
had to be redesigned to strengthen it.
- Okay, well I have one more question,
but I want to know what you're most excited about
when you've launched this rocket by tomorrow.
- I'll be really proud of the SpaceX team
for having accomplished this incredible task.
And hopefully we inspire the public
to get excited about space again.
- [Loren] But it's not just the public
getting excited about the Falcon Heavy.
Some customers, like the Planetary Society,
are planning on using Falcon Heavy for their next flights,
hoping that a successful test launch
will spell success for their missions as well.
- We are tied to SpaceX.
We wish us the best today. (Loren laughs)
SpaceX is really visionary, but it really is
a fantastic idea.
Rockets should be like airplanes
where you don't throw them away,
you use them and then reuse them.
So it's visionary.
- Now if everything goes well today,
how will it feel to see that Falcon Heavy soar?
- Oh it'll be great.
So, we flew the first LightSail almost two years ago,
and it's a thrill.
We're very excited about it.
The idea is to democratize space,
to lower the cost of getting to many destinations
in our solar system.
The reason you do this everybody,
the reason the society does this,
there are two questions, Loren, that we have all asked:
Where did we come from?
How'd we all get here, where did we come from?
And are we alone in the universe?
And if you want to answer those two questions,
you have to explore space.
(upbeat music)
- We're finally here at NASA's press site.
After all of the hype,
after so many years of waiting, and it is intense.
I've been to a couple of launches here before,
but I've never seen it this packed.
Just getting in here today, there was a huge traffic jam.
And the vibe here?
Everybody is super anxious,
we're really ready to see this thing get off the ground.
Originally the launch was set for 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
Then it got pushed back to two.
Then 2:20, then 2:50.
It turned out upper level winds in the area
were too high for flight,
and SpaceX was trying to wait for them to die down.
People started worrying that they'd have to
come back the next day.
So we've all been on edge today,
SpaceX kept pushing the launch time
back, and back, and back.
Now we have a new T-minus zero which is 3:45 p.m.,
but our launch window only lasts until four p.m.
However, the rocket is loaded with propellant,
so I think it might actually go up today.
- [Man] The center core locks look complete.
- [Woman] Tropic lower has ended,
Strombeck's at 88.2 degrees.
- [Man] Falcon Heavy gas loads are complete
and Heavy is configured for flight.
- [Woman] T-minus 15, stand by for general count.
(crowd cheers and applauds)
- [Man] Launch to red code.
- [Woman] 10, nine, eight.
- [Man] Side base to ignition. (crowd counts down)
- [Woman] Six, five, four, three,
two, one, zero, ignition.
- [Loren] Oh my god. (crowd cheers)
- [Man] Holy shit.
- Ooh, it's hitting us.
Wow, that is a beast. (rocket roars)
Oh my god, you feel it.
(rocket roars)
Oh my god.
We can still see it clear as day.
It's supersonic, bitches.
Oh my god.
I'm gonna go.
- [Man] I'm gonna keep rolling.
Hold on Loren, we're gonna go together.
- [Man] Side boosters begin.
(crowd yells and cheers)
The center.
Side boosters' landing legs are deployed.
(crowd yells and cheers)
- [Woman] And the Falcon has landed.
- We're gonna hear six sonic booms.
(yells and laughs)
Oh my god. (laughs)
Oh, man.