SpaceX made a Falcon Heavy launch video with Westworld creators
At this year's SXSW event, a panel for HBO's Westworld saw the show's co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy bring out their good friend Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla to offer a few words. While Musk's surprise appearance had little to do with Westworld directly, Nolan commented that they wanted to share some positivity and "optimism." This meant the debut of a promotional trailer Nolan helped create for SpaceX's successful Falcon Heavy launch back in February.
The video serves as a nice summary of the massive undertaking that was the Falcon Heavy launch — which just so happened to include sending a red sports car into space. It covers the preparation and launch itself, along with new footage not seen by the public, such as the loss of the rocket's center booster. Of course, the whole thing features David Bowie for the soundtrack, specifically the song "Starman."
Nolan explained that they wanted the video to serve as a way of getting people excited and inspired by space exploration, the way he was as a kid. "How do you get people to talk again, how can you drive the conversation?" He went on to share that he got to watch the Falcon Heavy launch alongside Musk in launch control, and that he was in awe of the incredible achievement made possible by the contribution of so many people. "We tried to distill that essence down."
The Westworld co-creator clarified that the video was not a trailer for a forthcoming movie or TV show, but simply "we're hoping this is the trailer for one part of the next chapter of the human story."
Why Falcon Heavy & Starman?
Life cannot just be about solving one sad problem after another. There need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity. That is why we did it. We did for you. https://t.co/5STO7q4wro
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2018
Musk went on to post the video in two parts on his Instagram, while also commented on Twitter that "Life cannot just be about solving one sad problem after another. There need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning."