The world over is celebrating Elon Musk’s triumph, after he successfully sent the world’s most powerful rocket into space on Tuesday.
Thanks to his ego, as well as his curious taste for the absurd, it wasn’t only the Falcon Heavy that made it to space, but a red Tesla roadster, too.
A recap, from yesterday:
[Inside is the car is] a dummy named Starman (after the David Bowie song).
Right in the middle of the car, on the center screen, are the words “Don’t Panic.” It’s a reference to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the 1979 book that was first in a series by Douglas Adams about an accidental space traveler named Arthur Dent. In the story, the Guide itself has the words “Don’t Panic” on its cover.
Musk, who first read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” as a teenager, has said that he loves the book. In a 2015 interview he said the spaceship from the book was his favorite [sic] from science fiction.
“I’d have to say [my favorite] would be the one in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ that’s powered by the improbability drive,” Musk said.
Now what? Well, the Tesla is happily floating through space.
We break briefly to enjoy Bowie’s Starman, in case you need context:
Right, back to the Tesla. Its projected path is expected to take it closer to Mars, although there is a tiny chance it might crash into the planet.
However, if it is able to stay on course, the payload will drift through space, potentially for millions of years, forever beaming surreal images and videos – like the ones below – back to Earth:
Let’s enjoy a timelapse of it all:
Kiff life, hey?
Meanwhile, back here on Earth, we will have to continue looking to the sky for some sort of inspiration:
Thanks, Elon, and keep the absurdities coming:
[source:theguardian]
