All language subtitles for MARS.Inside.SpaceX.2018

We now go to a historic
moment at the Kennedy Space
Center in Cape Canaveral,
Florida.

Elon Musk, the billionaire
founder of SpaceX and Tesla,

is set to launch the biggest
rocket in the world today.

You are looking at a
live view of the Falcon Heavy,

the world's most powerful
operational rocket by a
factor of two,

and today is the day that
we have come to demonstrate
that power.

The mission: break through
Earth's gravitational pull
and head for a solar orbit,

including Mars.

This reported $90 million
mission, paid for by
billionaire SpaceX founder.

This is a point
in history that we
don't come to often.

We're in this amazing transition
point that we have not been in
since the moon landings.

I'm going to
step off the LEM now.

That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.

With companies like
SpaceX, we have alignment
of so many capabilities

and opportunities and changes
happening that are all
pushing in one direction,

which is towards Mars.

We had plans to land
the first humans on Mars in 1981

and have a permanent base on
Mars by the late 1980s.

And if anybody had told me when
I was 17 watching that moon
landing that I would be 64 and

we wouldn't be on Mars, I would
have thought they were crazy.

Apollo was, you
know, nearly 50 years ago.

That's insane, that we went to
the moon with 1960's technology
and haven't gone back since then

The question is,
why did we not keep going?

Going to Mars,
it's really expensive.

It's such a massive
human undertaking.

We need commercial space
companies that I think are
going to help bring the cost

of space down, to open
the frontier irreversibly
for everybody.

Please join me
in welcoming Elon Musk.

Thank you.

What I really want to
try to achieve here is

to make Mars seem possible,

make it seem as though it's
something that we can do in our
lifetimes and that you can go.

That's what we want.

We need to go to
Mars, because it protects
us from extinction.

There's all sorts of things that
could happen on Earth that'd
kill all humans on the planet.

But once humans are on two
different planets, the odds of
extinction drop to nearly zero.

We're currently
at T-minus 17 minutes, 40
seconds and counting down.

All systems are go for launch
with the SpaceX test flight of
the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle.

This window of
opportunity is open for
life to go beyond Earth,

but who knows how long
that window will be open.

Guys, the tanks
are fully loaded.

- How do you feel?
- Good, I hope.

As long as
they don't blow up.

That's what the guy
from SpaceX said.

As long as they don't
blow up, we're good to go.

This kind of thing can
barely be done by extremely
advanced governments.

T minus 30 seconds.

And here comes
a guy with 350 million
bucks that says,

I'm gonna start a rocket company
and I'm gonna get us to Mars.

SpaceX Falcon
Heavy, go for launch.

Humans cannot survive
on Earth indefinitely.

Falcon Heavy is on
internal power.
EFTS is ready for launch.

So, think
of everything that we've
achieved as a civilization.

Falcon Heavy
is in start-up.

Think of
everything that we've
achieved as a culture.

T minus 15,
standby for terminal count.
Guys, here it goes.

We will go
extinct if we do not become
a space-faring species.

Ten, nine. Eight, seven,
six.

Survival for humanity
in the long run depends on it.
Five, four, three.

Two, one, zero.

This is hallowed ground.

It's called Launchpad 39A
and it's the place that the
first humans left Earth

and went to another
heavenly body.

So, this is, I think,
probably, I think it's the
greatest launch site on Earth.

Buzz Aldrin, Mike
Collins, and Neil Armstrong
get into the transfer van

to pad 39A.

Pad 39A was used
for the Apollo 11 mission.

And then, with
the Space Shuttle.

So, it's a place with incredible
historical significance.

Now, NASA has given Launchpad
39A to SpaceX to use.

All right, guys, we're
going to go up the elevator.

Dad,

- what is this building for?
- This is the launch tower.

So, this is where the
astronauts would go up.

And then there would be a big
arm that would swing over to the
spacecraft and they'd walk down

the gangway, climb in the
spacecraft, go to space.

And this isn't
floors, this is feet.

Pretty cool.

From the first
explorers who ventured
off our planet,

to those who have risked
their lives in pursuit

of furthering our
understanding of the universe,

the astronauts and engineers
behind the US space program

have spent decades advancing
space technology.

But building rockets
was expensive.

By the early 2000s the US
space program was struggling,

and a mission to Mars
was hard to imagine.

The Space Shuttle spreads
its wings one final time for
the start of this sentimental

journey into history.

It was then
that a young entrepreneur
had a revolutionary idea.

With SpaceX,
what we're trying to do
is achieve a huge advancement

in rocket technology.

If you look at rocket
technology, it actually
got worse over time.

In 1969, we were able
to go to the moon,

and then with the Space Shuttle
we were only able to go to
lower earth orbit.

And then when the Space
Shuttle went away,

and then we weren't able to go
to orbit from the United States.

See, like, that's a
negative trend line.

It's not like you can
extrapolate that trend line into
the future and it gets good.

It's a trend line to zero.

So, if it's not gonna come from
the government, then it's gotta
come from a private company.

So Falcon Heavy ended up
being a much more complex
program than we thought...

Well, we're super excited
obviously at SpaceX to

announce, uh, the, some of the
details around the Falcon Heavy
rocket,

which is our, our launch
rocket development,

really large rocket development.

Falcon Heavy is
the most powerful operational
rocket in the world.

In addition to the center core,
it's powered by two Falcon 9
rocket boosters

that have each flown and
landed once before.

They'll now be reused
to launch Heavy.

Falcon Heavy is really a
revolution in space technology.

The long-term goal of SpaceX
is to develop the technology
necessary to

establish a self-sustaining
city on Mars.

One of the most exciting
parts of working at SpaceX is
missions like Falcon Heavy.

These bold missions, these
bold visions for doing
things better,

but also, doing things
on a much grander scale.

All right guys, let's go
ahead and get this pre-test
going for dance floor removal.

It's gonna be the first time
that we do it, so here's the
number one rule:

we're gonna take our time and be
safe.

And so I want everyone
to walk through, make
sure the area's clean.

We're not gonna have
access to those areas once
the dance floor is out,

so let's do a FOD sweep and
then, we can get into it.

There are things in your
life that you will remember, you
know, the birth of your kids,

and then, when we landed a
rocket here, um, and this one
will be another one, for sure.

The fact that we built and
are launching the largest
vehicle since Saturn 5,

the rocket that took us
to the moon,

folks will look back on Heavy
as a stepping stone to Mars.

Lift off,
we have a lift off.

Wernher von Braun,
who built the Saturn 5,

overbuilt entirely the rocket
to go to the moon.

Saturn 5 is the largest,
longest, and heaviest machine
ever built by humans.

It's absolute overkill
for going to the moon.

And the reason is von Braun
didn't want to go to the moon.

He wanted to go to Mars.

Von Braun, just like Elon
Musk, was intensely aware that
humans, in order to survive,

have to become a
space-faring species.

Mars is the only
possibility in our solar system
for being multi-planetary

with the technology that
we're aware of right now.

Main engines start,
zero, and lift off of
the Atlas 5 with Curiosity.

Breaking news this morning,
the NASA Mars rover Curiosity
touched down this morning,

right there on the Red Planet.
Touchdown confirmed,
we're safe on Mars.

Spirit, Opportunity,
Curiosity, all of these rovers
have started to unveil,

and show us that there is
water, that the Martian
soil has nutrients.

Mars is the closest
planetary object that has all
the conditions and resources

needed to support life and
therefore technological
civilization.

We just have to get there.

Before we do the
flight, we do what's
called a static fire.

So we will load up
the propellants and
start the engines,

but hold the rocket down
to see if there's anything
that seems suspicious to us.

The last interest
item is weather.

The weather is pretty
favorable today.

We're looking at winds
above 25 miles per hour.

And assuming that all the
manual checks and the automatic
checks come back okay,

then the rocket will
be released for launch.

For Falcon Heavy we have to
light 27 engines simultaneously,

so there's a lot
that could go wrong.

So, five hertz is
where we really break.

Five hertz is where we're likely, just in bad territory.

So we should stay out of five hertz.

Yeah.

The static fire lets you
make sure the rocket's healthy,
the pad is ready to go.

That's also the time when
you can find some really
significant surprises.

Some are good, some
aren't so good.
AGS, this is the ER.

We've been having some
conversations with automation.

It seems like five hertz
is a hard limit in terms of
operation of that auto engine.

If you see this thing
coming down toward six
and a half or six hertz,

I think you should be
calling our attention to it.

We're pretty
gun-shy about launching.

If we see anything that seems
questionable, we don't launch.

Briefing for
instructions for an abort.

In the need for an urgent
abort, operators shall
call, "Hold, hold, hold"

on the primary countdown net.

That results in
a lot of postponements.

It is full load then
lift cylinders are attracting.

Question: Does it, do
you guys want to make
that call right now?

Secure for T-zero-eighty-eight
point three degrees.

Yes, close outs are started.
LD on countdown, go for
static fire.

Reminder: site booster engine
startup is at T-minus 7 seconds.

Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one.

Full duration, static
fire.

The Falcon Heavy static fire was
a pretty big deal because even
though there was a successful

static fire attempt, honestly,
it is a brand-new vehicle.

Falcon Heavy is the culmination of years of innovation in rocket technology,

taking the company one
step closer to Mars.

It's going
to be exceptionally
difficult to go to Mars.

You're talking about, you know,
new technologies in virtually
every possible system.

And this is where, you know,

science and science-fiction sort
of collide in a way that is, um,

helpful. You learn a lot more,

but it also reminds you of just
how much there is at stake.

Three, two, one.

There is no such thing
as a perfect record in rocketry.

On average, 20 percent of all
attempts to get off the face of
the Earth with a rocket fail.

And there's a strained
relationship between failure,
risk, and innovation,

which is: you can
take risks, you can try
something very innovative,

but you're more likely to fail.

This is why different types
of rocket companies and NASA
itself tend to go with older
technologies.

I first met
Elon back in 2000.

And I was actually trying to
talk him out of doing SpaceX.

I said, look at all of
these dead bodies along
the way, you know,

all of these companies
that have attempted to go.

I mean, come on, what are the
odds you're going to succeed.

But he's shown the
world it's doable.

Falcon Heavy has been
seven years in the making,

but it all started with SpaceX's first model, the Falcon 1.

This was their first attempt
to create a reliable, low-cost
rocket made up of two stages

and designed to low-Earth orbit.

Rockets, they really
don't want to work.

They like to blow up a lot.

Three, two, one,
zero, plus one, plus two,
plus three, plus four.

At the beginning of
SpaceX, I had originally
thought, "Okay,

I've got enough money
for three attempts."

- Sequence initiated.
- Three, two, one.

And, uh.

And we, unfortunately, we
did have three failures.

Uh, yeah, um, well, failure
sucks. It's really terrible.

There's a thousand ways that a
rocket could fail, and one way
that it could succeed.

Um, and, uh, particularly, you
know, in the beginning, they
tend to fail more than succeed.

But we managed to,
to scrape together enough
to have a fourth attempt.

Three, two, one. Zero.
We're at stage one.

We have liftoff indication.
We have liftoff.

SpaceX Falcon 1 launch pad,
Falcon has cleared the tower.

Shutdown. Congratulations.
My brother.

Thankfully, that
fourth attempt worked.

This is just the
first step of many.

And this really opens a
way for us to get Falcon
9 going; get, you know,

manned space flight and
ultimately getting to Mars.

I mean, there's just so many
cool things that are, that
are there in the future.

I think that this is
definitely, the future of
SpaceX is really great.

I mean, this is.

When Elon Musk
decided, I'm gonna go off and
build my own rocket company,

everyone thought he was crazy.
Everyone laughed at him.

No one has ever
really contemplated
this in a serious way.

In the beginning, we
thought, this is so crazy.

What are we doing trying to come
up with something like this?

And then, over time, we're like
yeah, it can definitely be done.

And now we're just kind of
arguing over the details.

We can explore the
universe. We can put a
colony on Mars.

People can be interplanetary
and it's just an engineering
problem like any other.

And it just takes a group of
people who care a lot and are
happy to work really hard

to make that happen.

So, the long-term goal
is how fast can we establish a
self-sustaining city on Mars?

Do we focus on just
trying to get the ship there

and then maybe some
people some other time?

I think we'd send a ship,
make sure it can land okay.

Assuming that lands okay and
it seems to be working, on the
next Mars mission we would send

people and additional equipment.

SpaceX is like
no other rocket company.

They're in an
unglamorous building in
the middle of nowhere,

in kind of an industrial zone.

But when you walk into the doors
and all of a sudden you see
they're making these pristine,

gorgeous rockets, it feels
like you've walked into a
factory on another planet.

After Falcon 1, SpaceX set its sights on the next phase in their rocket evolution,

the Falcon 9.

The design called for a
booster which contained
nine Merlin engines,

and increased the
amount it could lift by
more than thirty times.

But the key component of the Falcon 9 design was reusability.

SpaceX Falcon 9 and
Dragon are go for launch.

Elon Musk has said
the key to get to Mars is
the reusability of rockets.

LZ, LD. Go for launch.

That's an extremely
complicated concept.

He wants to be able to fire
a rocket into orbit, launch
a payload into space.

And then fire retrorockets
and bring that rocket down to
land vertically and reuse it.

If he cannot make rockets truly
reusable, then he cannot launch
a new civilization on Mars.

So SpaceX has an incredible
camera focused on it, and an
incredible amount of attention.

Because it's the only company in
the world that is actually
trying to do what it's trying to

do, which is develop
the technology to
get humans to Mars.

Civilization on Earth is
actually very vulnerable.

Either we're going to
become a multi-planet species,
a space-faring civilization,

or we're going to be stuck
on one planet until some
eventual extinction event.

Lots of rockets
fail all the time.

The only time anybody
ever notices is when
a SpaceX rocket fails.

And it was
June 28th, 2015.

Actually, my birthday. Uh.

Normally, I'm here
for the missions.

But, uh, thought, okay, well,
it's my birthday, so. And then.

So that was, that
was a real downer.

After that failure, obviously
we needed to do a complete
review of the whole rocket.

So the whole launch
program ground to a halt.

We had been launching a rocket
about every six weeks or so, and
then we didn't launch a rocket

for six months.

And that put a lot of financial
stress on the company,

because we had all the cost
and none of the revenue.

One of the most
radical ideas that SpaceX has
to lower this horrendous cost

of getting into space
is reusability.

It now costs $60
million every launch.

Send up a satellite, the
rocket gets destroyed,
you've lost $60 million.

If you can reuse that rocket a
thousand times, the cost goes
from 60 million to $60,000.

The SES-10 mission features a Falcon 9 that had launched and landed once before.

If successful, this would
be an historic day for SpaceX,

the first re-flight of
an orbital class rocket.

We're going try to launch
our first reused rocket.

This company was founded to
make space more accessible.

And. uh, the fundamental key
in doing that is having
a reusable rocket.

T-minus ten, nine.

It's going to drop
the cost of getting to
Mars by a huge amount,

to come back and land at the
launch site and fly again.

- It's just like an aircraft.
- Two, one.

Liftoff of Falcon 9, the
world's first re-flight
orbital class rocket.

The cost of fuel and
oxygen is very low compared to
the cost of the rocket booster

and the spaceship.

Stage
separation confirmed.

Imagine if you took a
flight from New York to London.

And then, at the end
of the flight, they
threw away the plane.

Imagine how much tickets would
have to cost for that flight
in order for the airline

to make money. That's
ridiculous.

You reuse the plane.

I just don't think
there's any way to have a
self-sustaining Mars base

without reusability. I mean,
this is really fundamental.

If wooden sailing ships in the
old days were not reusable,

I don't think the United States
would exist.

But reusability is a very
hard problem, because you've
got to enter the atmosphere

at an incredibly
blazing-fast speed.

You've got to fire the rockets
into a supersonic airstream,
zero out your velocity,

deploy the landing
gear, and land.

And you got one shot.

The pressure is
so high on this one.

These rockets are complicated
machines, and, uh,
we're doing something new.

There's always uncertainties
associated with that.

Right now, we're just
watching our screen here.

And hopefully we'll all see
a, a successful landing,
once again, altogether.

If they nail this
ability to land a rocket from
being in space on Earth.

Then they can nail
doing it on Mars.

Of course, I still
love you. We have a Falcon 9
on board.

[

With the success of
the SES-10 mission, SpaceX had
all the ingredients to assemble

the most powerful launch
vehicle since Saturn
V, the Falcon Heavy.

Heavy has the ability to lift
more than the weight of a 737
jet, loaded with passengers,

crew, luggage, and fuel.

With reusable boosters and an increased payload capacity, it's able to transport the incredible

amount of supplies
needed to build a human
civilization on Mars.

After static fire, we
come back into the hangar,
take the fairing off.

We'll have a lot of
inspections to do.

We'll have a lot
of data to review.

With Heavy, since this
launch is a test,

there's a lot that we don't
know about the vehicle yet.

So, we've done hundreds
or thousands of tests
of various systems,

but until you put it all
together, you don't really
know what's going to happen.

There's just really
no commercially viable heavy
lift vehicle out there today.

Heavy has about twice the
carrying capacity of the next
biggest rocket that's out there.

To have the world's
largest rocket flying
is really important.

It means we can launch
the larger payloads

that are necessary for getting
things to Mars as well.

Ultimately, any launch
vehicle is intended to bring a
payload to some sort of orbit.

When there's a
test launch of a new rocket,

the convention of the space
industry is actually quite
boring.

Like, they'll literally
launch a block of concrete.

Why waste a good test launch
on a block of concrete?

What's the most fun thing that
we could send to Mars orbit?

The suggestion that everyone
thought was the most exciting
was to send a car through space.

And they're putting all sorts
of interesting bits and pieces
in the glove compartment,

in the trunk, and we
want to have a big sign
that says, "Don't Panic!"

You know, from The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy.

Once we get the go-ahead
from all the responsible
engineers saying that

their systems are okay and that
we've checked everything out,
we will put the payload in,

get everything buttoned up, and
finally seal that for flight,
bring it back out onto the pad,

go vertical again, and,
and be ready for launch.

One, one note
on that top bullet.

So T-minus 30 seconds is when
we're looking to get all
decisions on a manual abort.

And after that, and after that
we are pencils down, and will
let the vehicle abort system

abort us if something is
truly wrong with the vehicle.

Today is kind of the final
checks of the launch vehicle.

Making sure that the pad
and the launch vehicle
are connected together,

talking to teach
other, checking all the final
systems, and things like that.

Giving everyone an opportunity
to voice their opinion about
their readiness.

And we have to go look at
something, we'll go look at it.

And we'll go fix it.

There's so much that
goes into preparing, because
this was the first time

this vehicle's ever
been put together.

So the center core and
the second stage and the
fairing are brand new,

but the side cores are actually
boosters that have flown before.

I can't remember how long it's
been since everybody's felt this
nervous and so electric about
something.

Because the last thing we want
is to just rush into a disaster.

These types
of complicated missions
require large teams

of differently-skilled
people to work together
to accomplish something.

Okay, overall status on
work orders tracking very well.

Really impressive
by that entire team.

You need people with
skills in a lot of different
areas with expertise in
different areas.

But if you have these big teams
of experts, the impossible
really becomes possible.

And just, LD, sorry, one
additional question about winds.

It sounds like we'll be fairly
close to limits, but still, if
things play out tomorrow

- as expected, we'll be
on the good side.
That's right.

If there is a part of the window
that is favorable, uh, he had to
assess the whole two-and-a-half

- hour window to give his 20
percent.
Okay, got it.

Falcon Heavy is more complicated
machine, it's a bigger machine,

it's harder to analyze, and
there's more folks that have
to be involved to understand

how it's going to perform.

As we go through the challenges
and we run into problems, I'm
very thankful for the early days

for SpaceX and for
launching rockets.

When Ricky Lim and I were in the
Marshall Islands, when we were
on Kwaj launching Falcon 1's.

Liftoff.

We've had 10 years of
launching rockets together

and working through many,
many challenges.

And over the years,
from Falcon 1 to Falcon
9 to Dragon Missions.

Falcon 9 and
Dragon are in orbit.

Each one of these has
been a step that allows us to
test out and to build technology

that will eventually
allow us to go to Mars.

Dragon separation stage.

And Falcon Heavy is a
next critical step in the
evolution of how we're going

to develop the Mars program.

Now, after almost a
decade of work, there are just
24 hours to go before Falcon

Heavy attempts
its maiden flight.

- All right. Okay.
- Hi.

Are you guys ready?

- Elon, in our lifetimes.
- Yeah.

Where will SpaceX
take us or where will
humans go in space?

I'm very hopeful that
humanity will have a base

on the moon and a city on Mars
in our lifetimes.

- In our lifetimes?
- Yes. Yes.

Well, hopefully Falcon Heavy
will inspire people to think
about Mars because, you know,

there's all these defensive
reasons of, like, we want to
be a multi-planet species and,

and then having
a life insurance policy in case
something bad happens to Earth.

But I personally don't find
that nearly as motivating
as the excitement of being

a space-faring civilization and
being a multi-planet species
and getting out there among

the stars and seeing what the
universe is all about.

I find it incredibly inspiring.

Maybe we're currently on
SpaceX channels, I don't know.

Hi Elon!

And when I talk
to other people they
also find it inspiring.

The two side
racers are gonna start off
the land right over here.

The third one is gonna
continue going into orbit.

You know, in Apollo,
when people landed on the
moon for the first time,

that was something that was
great for all of humanity.

And there were people that
walked 50 miles to find the
one TV where they could see
the thing live.

What do you think
about this moon landing?

Well, it's the
beginning of a new frontier.
The gateway to Mars.

So, whether you're rich
or poor, whatever country you're
in, everyone needs inspiration.

The number of people
that came out and traveled
a really far distance,

coming across the country in
certain cases, and to actually
see the public

be that interested in what
we're doing is pretty amazing.

Elon Musk calls this
rocket Falcon Heavy, the biggest
rocket to take off from here

since the Apollo moon missions.

This can very well
change the face of space travel.

The significant success of SpaceX has not
only transformed aerospace travel but aslo...

Today's mission is
all about the mantra,

"Go big or go home."

Heavy lift capability
is the critical technology
needed to enable human missions

to Mars, and a reusable,
heavy lift vehicle,

is the critical technology
need to settle Mars.

If Heavy, it works,
it's an even better
rocket than Falcon 9,

cause it can deliver
more payload.

And, you know, like sending
stuff to Mars, Heavy is really
the vehicle we need for that.

Getting to Mars will be
risky, dangerous, uncomfortable,

but it'll be the greatest
adventure ever, ever
in human history.

Hey Zack.
It's me and Elon.

Yes, I see you there with Elon.

Did you see the picture
I just sent you?

Uh, did you
send it over email?

Yeah, I just
sent it over email.

So the weather
officer is telling us
that it trends better.

- Okay.
- Towards the end.

So we're thinking the
recommendation of going to the
end of the window is pretty.

An extra half-hour?

Um, it's fifty.
It's 55 minutes.
Four minutes.

So we're at 3:05 PM T-zero right
now and we have until 4:00 PM.

So if you look at the,
uh, picture, um, the dark
blue line is the latest line.

I'm trying to figure
out if this is trending
positively or negatively.

That, that obviously
affects whether we
postpone launch or not.

Hey guys, I'm
going to give us a little
bit more time to decide.

I'm just going to push the plug.

Yeah, yeah, uh, don't,
yeah, hold the plug for now.
You got it.

When is the
soonest we can launch?

The soonest we can
launch, um, we have 90 minute
propellant load

at T-minus 85 minutes. That's
the point of no return.

- We start to make the T tab
on the second switch alert.
85 minutes.

That's right. Yep.

Launch day is easily the
most nerve-racking day, ever.

Every launch, every mission,
you want to go perfectly.

But the last couple of hours,
everyone's just looking out for
things that can get in the way

and just removing blockers.

So Elon, I would like to give
you as many options as possible,

- I just wanna get the required
items going now.
- Okay.

- All right, fire away.
- You got it.

So 3:45 local, I'll
give you options.

- Sounds good.
- Okay.

All right, here I go.

All right, he still needs a
little more time, but we're
gonna get the clock rolling.

3:45 pm local, and then,
give him some more time.

The window for
the SpaceX liftoff, is
quickly closing down.

They have heavy winds at
altitude, and the wind shear
at altitude could affect

the trajectory of the rocket.

Stage two log slowed.
Throttling back.

There's a lot
of risk in flight.

There's a lot that
could go wrong.

This is the windspeed.
This is altitude.

So it looks like the rocket's going straight...
but it's not.

The rocket's like rising and,
rising up, rising up, rising up.

And then it gets hit by a jackhammer.
Boom - sledgehammer.

Sledgehammer on the nose.

That can cause the rocket to snap in half.

Stage two log slowed.

So about halfway
through the first stage's burn,

the two side boosters will
separate and come back to earth

for a simultaneous landing and
executing a three-burn maneuver

to get them back to landing
zones one and two, and Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station.

Now, this second stage
of the fairing, right
at the very top there,

that second stage will be
sending our payload way out
into a Mars crossing orbit.

So, if all goes well after
launch, we'll have three first
stage cores back on earth,

two for the second time, and a
wealth of data for perfecting
airplane-like operation

in the future.

T minus 10 minutes.

Falcon Heavy is
on internal power.

Okay, everything's
great, guys. All systems green.

Okay. Party time.

- How do you feel?
- Good. I hope.

AFTS is ready for launch.

Falcon Heavy is in startup.

You know, I
had this image,

just a giant explosion on the
pad with a wheel bouncing down
the road,

and, uh, the side boosters
landing somewhere with a thud.

For Falcon Heavy we have to
light 27 engines simultaneously.

This is an incredible
amount of force and noise
and vibration and heat.

We will do our best to
minimize the risk associated,
but it's a test flight.

And if that thing, I hope,
I sure hope it doesn't,
you know, touch wood,

but that thing could
blow up on the pad.

SpaceX, Falcon
Heavy, go for launch.

Falcon Heavy
is on internal power.

AFTS is ready for launch.

Falcon Heavy is in start up.

Okay. So, what we do is
launch off, we run outside and
watch it go up.

Actually, give it
ten seconds, 'cause you
won't be able to see it.

And then, in about ten seconds
from that, after we see this
thing go, we're gonna.

T-minus 40 seconds.

T-minus 30 seconds.

Launch director on
countdown one, SpaceX Falcon
Heavy, go for launch.

Falcon Heavy is
configured for flight.

T-minus 15. Standby for
terminal count.

And if one of
those engines fails, it
will trigger an abort.

- All systems currently green.
- Okay, that's good.

10, 9. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3.
2, 1, 0.

Ignition.

Liftoff. Liftoff.

Go, go, go, go, go. Off the pad.

Oh my, my God.

Oh my God!

Vehicle is supersonic.

You heard the call out.
Vehicle is supersonic.

Side boosters are now throttling
back up to full power.

Vehicle has reached
maximum dynamic pressure.

We passed max Q,
the period of maximum
loads on the vehicle.

Oh my God,
guys, it took off.

All right, go, go, go!

Go, go, go! Go, go, go!

Major event coming
up with side booster
shutdown and separation.

Side boosters take off.

Successful separation!

Yes! Oh my God!

Whooo!

That's unreal.

What?!

We love you!

Central cores
are shut down.

The separation confirmed.

Separate core booster
start up behind.

Separate core start
from this point forward.

On your screen
at the moment, you've got
a few things happening.

On the upper right, you've got
MVAC-D continuing its burn,
and on the two bottom screens,

you've got the side boosters
headed back towards Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station,

landing zones one and two.

Both side
boosters transonic.

cheers]

Yes, light. Light.

coming soon,

See?

boom!

Side boosters landing
legs have deployed.

LZ1 to LZ2, both side
boosters are touchdown.

Landing operators move on to
recovery one and recovery two.

Stage two,
ASTS has saved.

I don't see any
fire plumes over there.

That's the, the booster's
already over Africa.

It's going to be over
Nigeria right now. Yeah.

Stage two position.

That's the ground track.

It's fast!

New ways of traveling, guys.

Hugs, congrats.

Congrats, Charlie.

Holy cow! Look at that!

Dude, that is awesome.

Guys, do you see this?
Look at the car in space.

You guys have been in the car.
I've driven you in that car.

This is so trippy.

We want to demonstrate that
Falcon Heavy is capable of
getting to Mars orbit.

-Yeah!!

If it's, like, out there
floating for millions or maybe
a billion years, and then,

you know, maybe long
after human civilization
is maybe gone, maybe some,

some future ancient
civilization will come
around and find it and say,

"Hey, this is cool. I wonder
what those guys were up to."

Awesome.

It's, it's one of those things
that's a reason to live.

Life cannot just be about
solving one miserable
problem after another.

There have to be reasons that,
where you wake up in the
morning and you look forward

to being alive and you're
excited about the future.

-...smile.

That's, I think, what Mars
represents most to me.

It's seeing what the
universe is all about.

Captioned by SubTitlePro LLC