First a car in space. Now this. The Falcon Heavy launch only a few weeks ago marked a training exercise where a tesla roadster was sent into space. Now, its true purpose was finally exploited.

Elon Musk released his proposal for a sustained colony on Mars last year. It is free and open to the public for them to make changes to and to share their opinions on how to make it better. All that planning came together this Saturday the 24th. Due to the new design, we know that the Falcon Heavy rockets were able to be landed safely and set for reuse. What the general public did not know is exactly how fast they are able to be refueled and reloaded. Only a few weeks later these rockets were ready to fly again.

With funding from the “Boring” company and his profit from Tesla, Musk has conducted research for years on habitats for sustained living in little to no oxygen atmospheres. This work has culminated in the “Biosphere,” a domed shaped structure built with interlocking clear polymer triangles that will allow light in but trap hear, almost like a greenhouse. This is where plants and mosses will grow to recycle CO2 and make oxygen. The picture is just of the prototype and the triangular panes have been stacked and are ready to be assembled upon the crew’s arrival on Mars. The living quarters will be cramped for a while on the nearly 8 month trip, but thankfully the booster rocket will meet and connect with the U.S. portion of the International Space Station before making the rest of the journey. It was scheduled to intercept on the 27th and, now that it has, will disconnect to fly off and get a gravitational assist around the moon to speed up the rate of travel to Mars.

These brave astronauts are the first to take on this amazing adventure and, sadly, are likely the last. Following their slingshot around the moon they made a frightening discovery that was deemed more important than colonizing mars. A communication was relayed just before they left comm range that contained a single picture, proving once and for all to skepticists that the world is, indeed, flat.