SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket didn’t blow up on the launch pad, but it did blow up the internet.
More than 2 million people tuned in to the launch of the world’s most powerful operational rocket on YouTube. The pieces of the triple-barreled rocket splintered off and two of the three cores made picture-perfect landings, setting off childlike joy across the internet.
With the launch complete, attention turned to the Tesla Roadster with a spacesuit-clad “Starman” mannequin in the front seat packed inside the Falcon Heavy’s nose cone. A livestream produced breathtaking images of Starman and the Roadster in space.
No one had more to be giddy about today than SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. But he played it cool.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/960992715579125760
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/960998900243902466
Hours after the launch, President Donald Trump sent along his congratulations, hailing SpaceX’s achievement as an example of “American ingenuity at its best.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/961073467784421382
That drew a gracious acknowledgment from Musk, who hasn’t always seen eye to eye with the president.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/961079361234497537
Vice President Mike Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, congratulated SpaceX as well (and linked to Fox News, of course).
https://twitter.com/VP/status/961048610866577408
Praise also came from Jeff Bezos, the Amazon CEO and founder of SpaceX rival Blue Origin. Before the launch, Bezos wished Musk and SpaceX good luck, and Musk responded with a smooching emoji.
After the launch, Bezos kept the bromance alive, giving Musk a congratulatory “Woohoo” and three rocket emojis in honor of the Falcon Heavy.
https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/961033484536971264
The launch elicited huzzahs from other luminaries in the space community.
https://twitter.com/TheRealBuzz/status/960982401047584768
https://twitter.com/BillNye/status/961000171906613248
https://twitter.com/carolynporco/status/960980760696995840
https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/960985701406920704
https://twitter.com/Astro_Nicole/status/961047848514093057
https://twitter.com/Lori_Garver/status/961014440454914048
https://twitter.com/Stratolaunch/status/961008829688250368
As it does with most major events these days, the internet had a lot to say about the launch. Most, including the GeekWire newsroom, were left in awe by the events. But it’s still Twitter, which means there was plenty of snark to go around.
https://twitter.com/AmyEGardner/status/960982939503857664
https://twitter.com/NatGeoChannel/status/960994836168966146
https://twitter.com/mostevilgenius/status/960991066873909252
https://twitter.com/ZoliBara/status/960988005577248769
https://twitter.com/luke901/status/960985005852971013
https://twitter.com/PauloLozanoMIT/status/960995015714537472
The Falcon Heavy’s two side rocket cores landed in spectacularly successful fashion, but the center core, which was set to touch down on a floating launch pad in the Atlantic, slammed into the water instead. Even before Musk provided the official word about the center core, it got the “Where’s Barb” treatment online:
https://twitter.com/chrisdmytriw1/status/960993756718694400
https://twitter.com/NASAWatch/status/961013036126560256
https://twitter.com/cbkevin/status/961005129569853445
Overall, the launch was a giant leap for space travel and something that didn’t seem possible even a few years ago. Robert Zubrin, president and founder of the nonprofit Mars Society, congratulated the SpaceX team on its “spectacular and historic success.”
“Seven years ago, the Augustine commission said that NASA’s Moon program had to be cancelled, because the development of the necessary heavy lift booster would take 12 years and 36 billion dollars,” Zubrin said in a statement. “SpaceX has now done that, on its own dime, in half the time and a twentieth of the cost. And not only that, but the launch vehicle is three quarters reusable. This is a revolution. The naysayers have been completely refuted. The Moon is now within reach. Mars is now within reach. The moment is at hand to open the space frontier. America should seize the time.”
NASA’s acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, joined in the congratulations — and noted NASA’s role in leasing Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A to SpaceX for 20 years.
“All of us in this business know the effort it takes to get to a first flight of any new vehicle and recognize the tremendous accomplishment we witnessed today,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “I am really proud of the hard work of our NASA team, in particular at Kennedy, for the transformation into a multi-user spaceport.”