SpaceX fires up its biggest rocket, paving way for a test flight | Science | The Guardian

One step closer to putting a Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun

"The Falcon Heavy briefly roared to life for the first time at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center. All three boosters – 27 engines in all – were tested. The thunderous booms could be heard at the press site three miles away, as huge white clouds of engine exhaust billowed into a clear blue sky. Everything appeared normal: the 230ft (70-meter) rocket stood tall and brilliantly white after the test on the historic pad once used by Nasa’s Apollo moon rockets and space shuttles.

The SpaceX chief executive, Elon Musk, said an hour later that the firing was good. “Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching in a week or so,” he said via Twitter."

SpaceX fires up its biggest rocket, paving way for a test flight | Science | The Guardian