So... how does one gain access to the Delta IV launch tower during SpaceX flight operations?
Elon's Roadster is now at 1.6 million km from Earth, outside the Earth-Moon System's Hill sphere and so firmly in solar orbit
For the record, Tesla's closest approach to the Moon was 0220 UTC Feb 8 at 140,000 km which isn't terribly close but probably enough to affect the trajectory slightly (2 lunar Hill radii)
"The asteroid orbit plot was just a mistake," Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told Space.com.McDowell explained that the error apparently arose when someone at SpaceX used an orbital parameter called C3 — a measure of the velocity needed to escape Earth's gravity — to determine the shape of the Roadster's orbit "and goofed while doing it.""For selling the rocket to customers, C3 is what you care about, [and] the actual orbit around the sun is not relevant," McDowell said, "so they weren't careful about calculating it."
McDowell calculated that the Roadster will venture by Mars at a safe distance of about 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) as it crosses the planet's orbit in July.The closest it will ever get to Mars will be in October of 2020 at a distance of about 4.4 million miles (7 million km), which is still "well outside Mars' gravitational sphere of influence," McDowell wrote on Twitter. This means that the Roadster definitely won't be orbiting Mars as Musk first announced it would in a tweet last December.
Elon MuskCompte certifié @elonmusk16 minil y a 16 minutesEn réponse à @kerrbones @nextspaceflightNot enough ignition fluid to light the outer two engines after several three engine relights. Fix is pretty obvious.
#FalconHeavy booster parked in front of @ExploreSpaceKSC Atlantis exhibit.
I guess this will the final view of the Tesla Roadster & Starman. It was taken on Feb 13, at a distance of 2 mln km (magnitude 19).source: http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=142629&PHPSESSID=avsdr9chil55mcr1f8p0q60i04
Quote#FalconHeavy booster parked in front of @ExploreSpaceKSC Atlantis exhibit.https://twitter.com/WordsmithFL/status/965234360126459904
Video of @SpaceX #FalconHeavy booster on display at @ExploreSpaceKSC.
Video from the other side of the @SpaceX #FalconHeavy booster at @ExploreSpaceKSC.
Someone asked for video of the business end ... @SpaceX #FalconHeavy
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex@ExploreSpaceKSCCalling all #SpaceX fans!For the next few days, a recycled first stage #Falcon9 rocket that launched and landed on two SpaceX missions, including #FalconHeavy, will be on display in front of Space Shuttle Atlantis at #KennedySpaceCenter!
Rainbirds. A visual study of #SpaceX LC-39A's huge sound suppression system that insulated #FalconHeavy from its own violent acoustic waves. 2.1m diameter pipes carried a torrent of water from an 88m high 1.1Megaliter tower to the pad @SpaceX @elonmusk Amazing #FalconHeavyLaunch
Rainbirds #spaceX #falconheavylaunch Part 2A visual study of @SpaceX LC-39A's huge sound suppression system that insulated #FalconHeavy from its own violent acoustic waves.
Rainbirds #spaceX #falconheavylaunch Part 3A visual study of @SpaceX LC-39A's huge sound suppression system that insulated #FalconHeavy from its own violent acoustic waves.
