Elon Musk’s first Falcon Heavy rocket — the largest since the Apollo moon rockets — was moved to a launch pad in Florida on Thursday.
Multiple Twitter images showed the rocket being erected at the same pad where Apollo astronauts departed for the Moon.
SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket was raised vertical at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center this morning for testing ahead of liftoff next month. (Image via @ExploreSpaceKSC) https://t.co/miZgMdTe0T pic.twitter.com/EMgGhfURt5
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) December 28, 2017
The rocket is essentially three of Hawthorne-based SpaceX ‘s Falcon 9 vehicles trapped together. A total of 27 engines will ignite at liftoff.
For the first flight, Musk is planning to send a cherry red Tesla roadster on a looping orbit around Mars.
The launch date hasn’t been announced, but is expected to be in January or February.