Tesla to Mars! (link)
 

Hello All,

Thanks to Elon Musk (see: http://spaceflightnow.com/2017/12/0...vy-lift-rocket/ ), an entertaining, and also scale, variation of the FAI--and the NAR--(passive) Payload Competition (see: http://www.nar.org/contest-flying/f...vents-for-wsmc/ ) is now possible:

Partly because Mr. Musk doubts that the first Falcon Heavy test flight will be successful (he has commented that a RUD--"Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly" is likely, but guarantees that the flight will be exciting, whether or not it's successful), and partly because of the opportunity it will provide for flying a whimsical passive payload, the first Falcon Heavy vehicle will carry a Tesla electric car as its payload. If the mission succeeds, the car will be injected into a trans-Mars trajectory; because the launch will occur outside a window for an Earth-to-Mars Hohmann transfer solar orbit, the car may orbit the Sun for billions of years, perhaps puzzling alien explorers who might discover it ages hence... Also:

A Falcon Heavy scale model rocket, which could be kit-bashed from three SpaceX "Falcon 9 and Fairing" scale model rocket kits (see: http://shop.spacex.com/accessories/...rocket-kit.html ), could carry an appropriately-scaled--which could be 3D printed--model of the Tesla car as its passive payload. :-)

And I just learned that there is now a Dr. Zooch Falcon Heavy. That would need a fairly tiny Tesla Roadster as the payload fairing is BT-55. http://www.erockets.biz/dr-zooch-fl...x-falcon-heavy/

Indeed--even a "Hot Wheels" Tesla Roadster (if they make one) might not be quite the right scale to fit that "Ant Scale" Falcon Heavy--thank you for posting the URL (Dr. Zooch's Falcon Heavy kit, while smaller, is definitely cheaper than combining *three* SpaceX Falcon 9 kits to create a Falcon Heavy)!

I think the model flight should be setup for a "rapid unscheduled disassembly" flight demo.

Only if the real thing spontaneously re-kits, or you won't get mission points. :chuckle:

Right now, we're in a window where either could possibly be specified, in the Concept Scale category... :-)

If the flight causes a hazard/menace/nuisance/fiasco/chaos/havoc/MAYHEM, count me in.
I absolutely enjoy PMC flights due to the "C" standing for CRASH more often than not.
Yeah, I'm one of those guys that likes the CRASHES in NASCAR too as long as nobody gets seriously/permanently injured.