This afternoon SpaceX successfully launched the 23-story Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. (Fifty years ago, the Apollo 11 mission launched from the same pad.) The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket in the world, due to its 27 engines, and three reusable 134-foot-tall boosters. Company founder and flamethrower salesman Elon Musk told reporters he was concerned something might go wrong, since the rocket's explosive power equivalent to four million pounds of TNT. But luckily the launch went off without a hitch. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Be33pH1Fk4_/?hl=en]] The Falcon Heavy is soaring into space to follow Mars in an elliptical orbit around the sun. And it's carrying a pretty interesting payload: Elon Musk’s red Tesla Roadster. Musk himself isn't sitting in the electric luxury vehicle, but the driver's seat is occupied by a dummy in a spacesuit nicknamed "Starman." There's also several video cameras, which are broadcasting a live stream to YouTube. "They should really provide some epic views if they work and everything goes well." said Musk. And just when you think this can't get any cooler, the car was blasting David Bowie songs during the launch. The purpose of the inaugural mission is to see if the Falcon Heavy can take objects into orbit. Last year, somebody asked Musk on Twitter what he would use as a test payload. He replied, "The silliest thing you can imagine!" As you can see, he pretty much nailed it. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/960998900243902466]] In the riskiest stage of the journey, the Falcon Heavy will spend six hours coasting through the infamous Van Allen belt, which contains intense fields of radiation. "It's going to get whacked pretty har  by high-energy particles," said Musk. "The fuel could freeze, and the oxygen could be vaporized, all of which could inhibit the third burn which is necessary for trans-Mars injection." If the rocket survives this perilous maneuver, its engines will fire up and the Roadster will fly in space indefinitely. (Or at least, until an alien steals it.) [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M]] The Falcon Heavy basically consists of three Falcon 9 rockets, but only costs about 45% more than a Falcon 9. At a cost of $90 million per launch, it's a bargain. The keys to the low price tag are its extremely reusable boosters. The two outer boosters detached about nine miles from the launch site. The central site booster missed its landing site on a barge, plunging into the Atlantic Ocean, but that's considered normal. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbSwFU6tY1c]] Should the mission become a total success, it could change the launch industry. Thanks to The Falcon Heavy's relatively cheap cost, SpaceX could attract major interest from NASA, The U.S. Military and commercial customers. And this is just the beginning. Musk says his system could become even more powerful, matching the power of NASA's famous Saturn V, and carry a payload all the way to Pluto. With NASA gearing up to send spacecrafts to the moon again, it's certainly good timing for Musk's company. We're probably still a long way off from taking space vacations, but until then we can all enjoy the view with Starman on the video stream.

At the beginning of this week, Space X launched a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The main purpose of the mission, which was organized by company founder, Elon Musk, was to see if the rocket would be able to take objects into orbit. And, considering there's now a Tesla Roadstar taking a journey through the Milky Way, I think it's pretty safe to say that the mission was a success. Musk has been keeping everyone updated on the progress of the mission (and, more importantly, the vehicle) via Twitter, and has shared some video footage from the launch control. In his most recent tweet, the Paypal founder reported that the "Third burn [was] successful. Exceeded Mars orbit and kept going to the Asteroid Belt." However, rather than paying attention to the fact that there is literally a car floating through space, some viewers of the Space X journey were more concerned with something else they spotted on the footage of the launch - and they're claiming it's a UFO. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/960992715579125760]] During the rocket's high-speed ascent into outer space, various "truthers" claimed to have seen something hurtling towards the Earth. In comments on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, conspiracy theorists offered potential explanations for what the mysterious object might possibly have been. "My thought was a trans atmospheric skip vehicle, but I could just be hopeful," said one person. "Is that aliens!!! What is this?" wrote another. And one person went so far to claim that Musk's recent foray into selling flamethrowers was spurred by the knowledge that we might have to use them one day against the aliens he'd already found on a different Space X mission. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBr2kKAHN6M&feature=youtu.be]] As if that theory wasn't mad enough, others have claimed that the entire mission is a fake. Flat-Earthers, in particular, have stated that Musk has staged the whole thing - from the rocket launch to the car in space - in order to bolster the government cover-up that the world is actually a flat platform. Surely, then, this should start a debate between the Flat-Earthers and alien-believers, as one side thinks the footage is fake, while the other believes it proves the existence of little green men. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Richarardwayne/status/960982423021412352]] However, while it's true that something probably can be seen on the footage, that it's not likely to be an otherworldly presence. "It might even have just been another satellite in orbit," wrote one level-headed person. "With all the crap that's up there, it far more likely that it's debris or something that's been in orbit for awhile than it was something secret." Contrary to popular belief, space isn't just a vast field of nothingness. There's loads of stuff hanging around up there - some of it natural, some of it manmade - and it's likely that anything propelled out of the atmosphere will encounter some of it. Sorry to break it to you, guys, but this wasn't the UFO revelation you were hoping for.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Space X, is on the cutting edge of technology in many ways. Sometimes that means creating vast underground transport tunnels and sometimes it means warning us of the dangers of artificial intelligence, but sometimes it's just about having a laugh, like his recent decision to sell flamethrowers to the public. Musk had recently pledged that if he managed to sell 50,000 baseball caps at $20 each he would start selling flamethrowers, and it looks like he's followed through on that promise. He initially posted a video of himself using the device on Instagram, joking in the caption: "Don't do this. Also, I want to be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don't buy one. Unless you like fun". [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BeeYW0NA1HU/]] It seems like those final four words were enough to tempt buyers in, as in less than 24 hours his company, The Boring Company, had already sold $3.5 million worth of these devices. He created the $500 creations for his own amusement, but has now reportedly sold 10,000 of the 20,000 stock already, meaning he has likely amassed $5 million from the enterprise. The Boring Company  was set up a year ago by Musk, after he tweeted: "Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging". The website explains that it plans to connect cities with underground tunnels and superfast electric "skates" that can carry cars and people. They have plans to construct a tunnel parallel to LA's congested I-405, a route that Musk uses regularly. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/957494364028071936]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/957503604750823425]] While Californian officials are behind these developments, some are not so keen on this latest idea, with one assembly member promising to introduce legislation to outlaw the flamethrowers in the name of public safety. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/SantiagoAD53/status/958107425965457408]] According to a story in the San Jose Mercury News this weekend, Miguel Santiago said: "I honestly thought it was a joke when the article was read to me - while I was sitting in Los Angeles traffic. The State of California and the County and the City of Los Angeles have entrusted Mr. Musk to help alleviate a real public policy problem here by executing a tunnel under the City to help alleviate traffic. This deviation feels like a complete slap in the face. Like most Americans, I am in awe of Mr. Musk's genius - the brains behind Tesla, PayPal, Solar City, and Space X. But as President Truman and Stan Lee have taught us all, 'With great power comes great responsibility'. There are many times in which technology and inventions benefit society, but are not made available to the public. We don't allow people to walk in off the street and purchase military grade tanks or armor-piercing ammunition.. I cannot even begin to imagine the problems a flamethrower would cause firefighters and police officers alike." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/957421513367416832]] Regardless of Santiago's protests, it seems that plenty of the public are lining up to grab one of these devices, with orders due to ship in the spring. The initial Instagram post has received over 500,000 likes and nearly 15,000 comments in the two days since he posted it, as well as nearly 3 million views. Musk described the device as providing "max fun for least danger" and said he'd "be way more scared of a steak knife," but either way - this man just keeps finding new ways to get rich.

Over the years, real-life Tony Stark Elon Musk has pulled a lot of impressive stunts, but surely none can compete with him sending very own $100,000 cherry red, convertible Tesla Roadster into space on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Not only that, Musk sent the car into orbit with the top down and David Bowie playing on the sound system. Now that's cool!

Suffice to say, the Roadster has now managed to clock up plenty of miles on the old speedometer on its journey through the cosmos. In fact, it's estimated to be about equal to driving every single road in the world 22 times! However, plenty of people have wondered this: where is it now?

Check out this amazing footage of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket:

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/QHbZv8Gl-Q0L14jDU.mp4||QHbZv8Gl]]

Well, Tesla has now revealed where the car actually is.

The car is travelling through space at thousands of kilometres per hour without fuel, due to the lack of inertia in deep space. When SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket launched back in 2018, it gave the car a huge speed boost, which propelled it towards Mars.

The car is now on an elliptical path around the sun, going past Venus and Mercury too. It completes one full orbit about every 557 days, and is scheduled to finish its first orbit before the end of 2019. In fact, researchers predict that the Roadster will orbit the sun for over a million years.

The car is too small to be seen with a telescope, but researchers from the University of Toronto believe that by the year 2091 it will likely pass close enough to earth that we'll be able to see it through a powerful enough lens. However, this isn't the first time we're written about space junk.

Check out this article we penned a while back all about all the trash that humans have left on the moon.

When SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time on February 6, 2018, Elon Musk made sure the maiden voyage would capture the world’s imagination. Instead of loading the test flight with standard equipment or an empty payload, the billionaire entrepreneur chose something much more eccentric: his own 2010 Tesla Roadster.

Nearly seven years later, the bright red convertible is still drifting silently through space, orbiting the Sun and reminding people just how audacious that launch was.

The car, complete with a mannequin nicknamed “Starman” dressed in a SpaceX spacesuit, was strapped into the driver’s seat before lift-off, per the Sky Live. Photographs of the vehicle with Earth looming in the background quickly went viral, turning the stunt into one of the most iconic moments in recent space exploration. Musk had labeled the attempt a 50–50 gamble, but it worked flawlessly, with Falcon Heavy proving its power as the most capable rocket in operation at the time.

While the launch was undeniably a demonstration of technical prowess, it was also designed as a joke, something Musk himself admitted. He said he wanted to send “the silliest thing we can think of” into orbit rather than something ordinary. Before the launch, he even polled people on social media for ideas, but ultimately settled on his own daily commuter car, one that he had driven to and from Tesla’s headquarters.

Since then, the Roadster has been on a cosmic journey that few could have predicted. According to the tracking site whereisroadster.com, the vehicle has now been in space for six years, eleven months, and twenty-five days, meaning its seventh anniversary is just weeks away. At present, the car is nearly 240 million miles from Earth and traveling at a blistering speed of almost 4,000 miles per hour. It is currently orbiting closer to the Sun, around 151 million miles away from the star. These staggering numbers make the Roadster not only the most unconventional car trip in history, but also the fastest car humanity has ever placed beyond Earth.

Of course, Musk added a few extra touches to ensure the journey would carry his trademark sense of humor. The car’s sound system was programmed to loop David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” continuously. If the battery still holds, the track would have played more than 694,000 times by now, per CNET. Inside the glove compartment, a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was stashed away, a nod to another interstellar adventure, along with a Hot Wheels miniature of the very same Roadster, perched on the dashboard.

Although some critics dismissed the stunt as a publicity ploy, the Tesla Roadster floating through space continues to be a symbol of both ambition and eccentricity. Long after the music stops and the car deteriorates from radiation, the memory of Starman cruising among the stars will remain one of the most unforgettable chapters in the modern space age.

Featured image credit: Marc Piasecki / Getty Images.