I've been reporting on the Falcon Heavy for Heavy.com today, and didn't want my fellow Steemians to miss out on the cool stuff. :) I'm so ridiculously excited about the shiny red Tesla being sent into space that I just have to share my excitement with everyone here on Steemit!

How Close Is the Tesla Getting to Mars?

Did you know that Elon Musk's shiny red Tesla Roadster is not being sent directly to Mars? It's going in a heliocentric orbit (around the sun) and will be passing close to Mars at certain points. That means this animation from SpaceX below, where it shows the Tesla flying straight to Mars, isn't exactly accurate. It'll be close, but not THAT close. A big enthusiast on Reddit put together this helpful video showing how the Tesla's orbit will actually work:

Exactly What Time & How Long Until the Launch? Can I Find a Countdown?

The launch window begins at 1:30 p.m Eastern/12:30 p.m. Central/11:30 a.m. Mountain/10:30 a.m. Pacific/8:30 a.m. Honolulu/9:30 a.m. Anchorage. So yes, you may hear that the launch will start at that time, but that's actually the beginning of the launch window. It could happen from 1:30 p.m Eastern until 4 p.m. Eastern. If something happens to delay it, the launch has another chance tomorrow during the same time period.

Oh, were you wanting a countdown? I put one in this story I wrote for Heavy. This will help you know exactly when to tune into the live stream.

Speaking of the Live Stream

That's the livestream, right there! I wrote a long, detailed story about the launch for Heavy and I hope you'll check it out. It includes the live stream too, but also goes into more detail about what's happening today and all the exciting things. :)

What Happens After the Launch?

Want a mission control timeline? You get a mission control timeline, and you get a mission control timeline, and you get... Well, you get it.

This is everything that's happening, in hours/minutes/seconds from the launch.

00:01:06 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:29 Booster engine cutoff (BECO)
00:02:33 Side cores separate from center core
00:02:50 Side cores begin boostback burn
00:03:04Center core engine shutdown/main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:03:07 Center core and 2nd stage separate
00:03:15 2nd stage engine starts
00:03:24 Center core begins boostback burn
00:03:49 Fairing deployment
00:06:41 Side cores begin entry burn
00:06:47 Center core begins entry burn
00:07:58 Side core landings
00:08:19 Center core landing
00:08:31 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:28:22 2nd stage engine restarts
00:28:52 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
Mission continues on an experimental long coast and third stage two burn to target a precessing Earth-Mars elliptical orbit around the sun.

You see, the side boosters will BOTH separate from the center core and RETURN to Earth (to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.)

And then the center core will also separate and return to Earth, but because it doesn't have enough fuel to land on dry land, it will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, a drone ship. How cool is that?

There will be an experimental six hour coast through the Van Allen radiation belts. This was a last-minute decision by Elon, in order to show capabilities to the Air Force and other government agencies. This decision will leave more things to chance that could end up preventing the Roadster from escaping Earth's orbit. But let's keep our fingers crossed that it all works out.

Eventually this will happen:

Elon Musk says there's a 50/50 chance this will work out, or we might get a big fireworks display instead. An important point to note is that this is a big step in space travel, but Elon is hoping a different rocket is what ultimately takes a human crew to Mars. That's the Big Falcon Rocket he announced not too long ago, and is now estimating might be finished sooner than originally thought. If the BFR is on schedule, he may eventually pull resources from the Falcon Heavy and put them into the BFR. I personally can't wait to see what they send on that rocket.

I wrote a complete step-by-step guide for Heavy with more details and even more photos, so I hope you'll check it out.

Happy Falcon Heavy Day!