From: Philip St. George, thenorthbaybay.ca staff
NORTH BAY — Following in the steps of Elon Musk, Mayor Al McDonald announced Wednesday evening that he is launching his car into space.
McDonald’s beloved blue 1998 BMW Roadster, with its 5-speed manual transmission, German-built 3.2 litre engine, and extra comfortable wooden bead seat covers, will be driven to Cape Canaveral, Florida where it will be attached to a SpaceX rocket.
“She has about 540 000 kilometers on her now,” says McDonald. “But once she’s up in space, Betsy is going to really start racking up the miles.”
A SpaceX “Wyvern” rocket will launch McDonald’s car into orbit at a speed of almost 8.5 kilometers per second. Once there, the Wyvern’s upper stage boosters will fire one final time, setting McDonald’s BMW Roadster on a 54.6 million kilometer trip towards Mars.
“I bought this car when I was Deputy Mayor,” explains McDonald. “So, to think that it’s going to Mars is amazing. And it’s going to take a little piece of North Bay with it.”
Along for the Ride
McDonald revealed that the Roadster’s trunk would be “absolutely full” of North Bay memorabilia.
“I wanted to send some of North Bay out there into space. So I’ve put a couple of neat little things into the trunk.”
Included in the trunk of McDonald’s 1998 BMW Roadster are on OHL Battalion jersey, an Ed Eng photograph, a shingle off of the Quints Museum, a copy of The North Bay Nugget, and the 2017-2018 Road Maintenance Budget.”
“I don’t necessarily think that last one represents North Bay. It’s more of a ‘this needs to disappear’ sort of thing.”
McDonald plans to drive the car down to Florida in late May for an August 8th launch.
“If anyone wants to come along, just let me know. I’ve been making a mix tape for the trip, and it’s going to be great. You just have to really like Trooper.”