Florida.- Space X is breaking with decades of tradition for the first test flight of its new mega rocket.
Falcon Heavy is set to become the most powerful rocket in the world today when it takes off on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This time it will take nothing of the usual ballast in the throws, such as concrete or steel slabs, or mundane experiments, whose loss in case something goes wrong would not be important.
Instead, the rocket will carry a red sports convertible with a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit at the wheel and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on the sound system. All inspired by Elon Musk, the revolutionary businessman who runs SpaceX and the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
"It's guaranteed to be exciting, one way or another," Musk said Monday in a conference call with reporters.
The South African billionaire said he usually feels "super-resourced" the day before a launch.
"Not this time, so maybe that's a bad sign," he said.
It is hoped that any possible failure will occur when the rocket is already well advanced in its trajectory, "so that at least we learn as much as possible along the way," he added.