The Tesla Roadster that SpaceX is launching to Mars orbit is equipped with cameras — and Elon Musk says they’ll provide epic views

SpaceX/YouTube

• SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is scheduled to launch from Cape Kennedy Spaceport in Florida this afternoon.
• Instead of carrying steel or concrete to test the rocket’s capabilities, it’s going to carry a Tesla Roadster, helmed by a dummy named “Starman.”
• The Roadster is equipped with three cameras, so Musk said it should provide some “epic views” — provided everything goes as planned.

Elon Musk and SpaceX could have tested the Falcon Heavy rocket’s ability to launch heavy objects into space the traditional way: by loading the rocket with massive blocks of concrete or steel.

But instead the plan is to launch Musk’s own midnight cherry Tesla Roadster in the Falcon Heavy when it takes off from its launchpad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Here’s how groundhogs became the animal that predicted the weather

See Also:

• SpaceX just released a new animation of its huge Falcon Heavy rocket launch, showing exactly what to expect tomorrow
• Elon Musk plans to launch a Tesla Roadster to Mars orbit this week — and a new photo shows a dummy driver called ‘Starman’
• SpaceX has received permission from the US government to launch Elon Musk’s car toward Mars

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk: ‘If we are successful in this, it is game over for all the other heavy lift rockets’