Posted on 02/17/2014 1:50:08 PM PST by EveningStar
The private spaceflight company Space X plans to build a rocket so big it would "make the Apollo moon rocket look small,"the company's CEO, Elon Musk, announced on "CBS This Morning"on Feb. 3.
The huge rocket would ultimately send colonists to Mars, but what would SpaceX do in the meantime? The company's primary focus right now is giving NASA astronauts access to the International Space Station (ISS) on American vehicles, drastically lowering prices to Earth orbit versus what the Russians are charging, Musk said...
This all begs the question: If SpaceX is going to build this gargantuan rocket on its own dime, anyway, why is the U.S. Congress forcing NASA to develop the less capable Space Launch System (SLS) for many billions of dollars more? ...
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
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BDL (Big Dumb Lifter)
Is it big enough to carry Obama’s ego?
“This all begs the question: ....”
It does no such thing!
NASA is too busy pushing Islam and Affirmative Action
Pic. #2 is what the Germans referred to as “aluminium overcast” and proof the war was lost. please add me to ping list, thanx.
CC
I don't think they are. The Falcon Heavy won't be as capable as the Saturn or SLS. I think Musk is speaking hypothetically.
I'll take Corruption In Politics for $1000, Alex..................
“I think Musk is speaking hypothetically.”
I think NASA is speaking equally hypothetically. There is no evidence that a stale affirmative-action moribund bureaucracy could build new SLS platform, or even something as capable as the Saturn V today.
The article isn’t about the Falcon Heavy but the follow on to that. The FH is scheduled to fly this year. The follow on is in the initial planning stage and will rival the SLS.
ah...the last one an Alcubierre Drive?
Sí. Click on each image for a corresponding reference. :)
Sez that the entire projected development cost is $2.5 billion, about one year’s expenditure by NASA to build the SLS. Thanks EveningStar.
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy will be the world's most powerful rocket when it launches later this year. It can carry a payload of up to 117,000 pounds in its clamshell fairing. The fairing is shown here open with the payload exposed, but on a mission it would remain closed until the first stage has separated and the second stage has nearly reached orbit. Nick Kaloterakis
Shown here as the Falcon XX
http://www.parabolicarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/spacex_falcon_heavy_lift.jpg
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