The world just watched (and Tweeted furiously) as SpaceX's Falcon Heavy successfully launched into the Florida sky, with a payload of a Tesla Roadster blasting David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and dummy crew inside of it. The Falcon didn't blow up during the launch sequence, and for the moment, looks like it's on course to orbit Mars. The side boosters landed on their landing pads with the synchronicity of skilled ballerinas.
But the live feed cut off at a critical moment. What in the world happened to the core?
https://twitter.com/arnaldocapo/status/960983886787502085
It was supposed to land on a landing pad of its own. But we don't know if it did. In the livestream, you can hear: "We lost the center core." As for what "lost" means, exactly? Unclear. Did they simply lose the video feed? Did it explode mid-air? Did it blow up upon landing? Literally, as of press time: No idea.
For the time being, we're still waiting for SpaceX to tell us what happened to the core (though the audio feed indicates that the core is, in fact, "lost"). As the world waits to find out its fate, like our ancestors before us, we take to Twitter for some well-earned sympathy and venting...
*f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no update on center core yet *f5* no upda #FalconHeavy
— Steady (@steady_ashegoes) February 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/uberjake06/status/960981830936793090
https://twitter.com/AkshatRathi/status/960982700235599873
...and to air our theories about where we might be hiding.
Center core has joined the witness protection program, apparently.
— Henry Fountain (@henryfountain) February 6, 2018
In the meantime, 'might be best to take to heart the message Musk sent into space with his orbiting roadster. In the immortal words of Douglas Adams:
https://twitter.com/gitasarieffendi/status/960986745180372992
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