SpaceX launch called ‘awesome,’ ‘monumental,’ ‘incredible’

Reaction to SpaceX’s launch of the most powerful rocket in operation today:

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“View from SpaceX Launch Control. Apparently there is a car in orbit around Earth.”- SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk via Twitter

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“Beautiful shots of Starman chilling in the Tesla Roadster. Absolutely incredible.” - SpaceX engineer and launch commentator Michael Hammersley

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“If people think we’re in a race with the Chinese, this is our secret weapon: the entrepreneurship of people like Elon (Musk) and others like Jeff Bezos.” - former Mars czar Scott Hubbard of Stanford University

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“It was awesome like a science fiction movie coming to reality. They nailed it.”- former NASA deputy administrator and MIT astronautics professor Dava Newman

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“It’s really a major step forward in space exploration … It is a test flight, the beginnings of the long road you have to do to qualify to put folks on board.” - former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe

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“This is just a very monumental and very visual piece of evidence that shows how strong American industry is.”- former NASA chief technology officer Bobby Braun of University of Colorado