Company says it is building world's biggest rocket

Yahoo News ^ | 5 Apr 2011 | SETH BORENSTEIN

[mandaladon]

WASHINGTON – A high-tech entrepreneur has unveiled plans to launch the world's most powerful rocket since man went to the moon.

The rocket could lift twice as much cargo into orbit as the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle.

Space Exploration Technology's new rocket called Falcon Heavy is big enough to send cargo or even people out of Earth's orbit to the moon, an asteroid or Mars. Only the long retired Saturn V rocket that sent men to the moon was bigger.

Space X president Elon Musk said Falcon Heavy will be far cheaper than government or private rockets. Launches are about $100 million each. The first launch is slotted for 2013 from California.

Potential customers are NASA, the military, other governments and satellite makers.

Musk founded PayPal and launches smaller rockets.

[TSgt]

The Falcon Heavy is designed for extreme reliability and can tolerate the failure of several engines and still complete its mission. As on commercial airliners, protective shells surround each engine to contain a worst-case situation such as fire or a chamber rupture, and prevent it from affecting the other engines and stages. A disabled engine is automatically shut down, and the remaining engines operate slightly longer to compensate for the loss without detriment to the mission.

[Moonman62]

The rocket could lift twice as much cargo into orbit as the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle.

That's a little misleading since the Orbiters aren't counted as cargo.

[Eagle of Liberty]

But can he do it cheaper than the russians?

Was that sarcasm? I would say that whatever the russians quote you, you better figure on twice to three times that much for their cargo delivery success rate.

[familyop]

Out with big, debt-supported revenues, out with political correctness. So we won’t be sending the likes of Susan B. Anthony or Barney Frank to the more distant planets during exploration efforts.

[Bigh4u2]

“Only the long retired Saturn V rocket that sent men to the moon was bigger. “

Kinda belies the article title of ‘Worlds biggest rocket’, doesn’t it?

[diogenes ghost]

"That's a little misleading since the Orbiters aren't counted as cargo."

The mission is not to lift a vehicle, but to place an object in space by using a vehicle.

SpaceX is not counting the weight of their vehicle, so why bring the orbiter into the equation.

The shuttle system was a terrible idea from the start, and cost us dearly in lives, money and time.

[massgopguy]

Remember the scene in Apollo 13 where they have to calculate the burn duration to get them back on course to not bounce off the atmosphere? They did it with paper and pencil.

[massgopguy]

“It looks like a big..................”

[wxgesr]

“It looks like a big..................”

What, a lollipop? How do you feel about your father? Did he always threaten you with cucumbers?

Slow down Freud....:)

[Toddsterpatriot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkdOAgQMQvA

[GAB-1955]

It works on the Soyuz launchers.

[anymouse]

You do know that SpaceX has already received about 1/2 Billion of our tax dollars from NASA, right?

Crony capitalism vs. government contractor waste - what a choice.

We should be pushing for true competitive market capitalism (i.e. commercial space.) That’s when we start seeing real progress.