SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket just got more real, now that billionaire founder Elon Musk has tweeted out pictures of the triple-barreled launch vehicle.
The late-night tweet was accompanied by three views of the rocket cores being processed at SpaceX’s Florida facility in preparation for the rocket’s first test liftoff. That’s scheduled to take place next month from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
There was nary a sign of what’ll go on top of the rocket — a payload shroud that’s due to contain Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster sports car, set up to play David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” on the sound system.
But Twitter fans were enchanted nevertheless by the sight of the triple-cored rocket, bristling with 27 Merlin engines at its bottom. “OMG” was a common reaction.