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Watch Elon Musk react with shock and excitement the moment SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off

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A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018.
Joe Skipper | Reuters

Watching Elon Musk watch the Falcon Heavy liftoff Tuesday, you might think he didn't expect success.

"Holy flying f---, that thing took off," Musk says seconds after the rocket launched.

That's according to exclusive video from National Geographic of Musk in the control room at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

National Geographic released a clip of the video.

Exclusive behind-the-scenes-footage follows Elon Musk in the moments before the Falcon Heavy launch

The footage from Tuesday's launch was shot for the second season of National Geographic's show, "Mars."

The video shows Musk running outside and gawking at the sky seconds after Falcon Heavy took off. "Look at that! That's unreal!" he says. It was a milestone because the successful launch makes the rocket the largest in operation today.

Musk also shared two images of himself from the clip on Instagram.

Musk wasn't alone in his excitement. Even his space race competitor, Jeff Bezos, expressed his enthusiasm.

The founder and CEO of Amazon and aeronautics company Blue Origin tweeted Musk congratulations after the launch.

Woohoo!

Adding to the magic, Musk's own cherry red Tesla Roadster was cargo inside the rocket. The Tesla was then released into space with a mannequin in a spacesuit positioned in the driver's seat.

SpaceX was able to receive images of "Starman," as the mannequin was affectionately named, floating through space in the car.

SpaceX just launched its most powerful rocket ever
VIDEO1:1801:18
SpaceX just launched its most powerful rocket ever

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