CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Buzz Aldrin is in place to watch the Falcon Heavy rocket's first test launch this afternoon (Feb. 6) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the rocket will take flight from the same pad that launched Aldrin's unprecedented trip to the moon on Apollo 11.
Aldrin posted a photo on Twitter showing the view of his "favorite launchpad." You can watch the launch live here on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX.
SpaceX's first test launch of the heavy-lift rocket comes from Launch Complex 39A, the launchpad that hosted most of the Apollo mission launches (starting with the first test-flight of the Saturn V rocket, Apollo 4, in 1967) as well as several shuttle missions. In 2014, SpaceX leased the pad for its launches, and first launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the pad in 2017, landing the first-stage booster on a landing pad at Kennedy Space Center after launch.
Falcon Heavy boasts three Falcon 9 first stages, all of which it may attempt to land after the launch: the two side boosters on Kennedy Space Center landing zones and the center core on a floating barge. From his spot, Aldrin should have a clear view of the launch and most of the landing process for the first stages. If successful, the launch will boost a Tesla Roadster into an orbit that will intersect Mars', although the planet won't be there.
Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
