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Sunday 10 April 2011

A New Powerful Rocket Can Send Man to The Moon or Mars



The California based company SpaceX announced their plan to build a rocket more powerful than any rocket that has ever been built so far to this day. The huge rocket will be called Falcon Heavy which is an upgrade to the Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX plans to upgrade its Falcon 9 rockets with twin strap-on boosters and other systems to make them capable of launching larger payloads into space. With this increase in power, SpaceX feels this rocket can travel beyond low-Earth range and possibly travel into our solar system using less capability then most rockers built today. The Falcon Heavy rocket will also be powerful enough to bring man back to the moon and possibly Mars. In order to travel that far, Falcon Heavy will require more lift than even NASA’s Space Shuttle. Designed to generate 3.8 million pounds or 1,700 metric tons of thrust, the rocket will be able to do the job. Test flights can happen as soon at 2013.
If another trip to the moon is planned in the future, the Falcon Heavy would not be capable to deliver all the necessary components to make the trip happen. One thought is to launch the astronauts and moon lander in one trip, then a second liftoff would follow to deliver the vehicle to bring the crew back home.
In addition to possible flights to Mars and the moon, the Falcon Heavy can serve other purposes as well. A Las Vegas-based company, Bigelow Aerospace, is designing a commercial space station, and trying to establish a private moon base. A destination this far would require a vehicle to help build it, as well as a rocket to carry space tourists to and from the base.
SpaceX is not settling with just building the Falcon Heavy. Their sights are set on an even more powerful rocket called the super heavy-Lift, which will have three times more the capability than the Falcon Heavy. This vehicle will have no problem traveling far beyond Mars. SpaceX currently has a small contract with NASA to explore the possibility of building the super heavy-lift rocket.
 

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