Falcon Heavy
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) says the Falcon Heavy should be ready for a test launch by the end of 2012.
It will be able to transport satellites or spacecraft weighing up to fifty-three metric tons into orbit. Fifty-three metric tons is one hundred seventeen thousand pounds, double the capacity of the shuttle.
The rocket was designed to meet NASA's ratings for human flight safety. So it could someday be used to carry astronauts and other travelers into space. The Falcon Heavy could also be used for missions like carrying a robotic lander to collect samples from Mars.
The first launch is planned from the company's launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is expected in late twenty-thirteen or fourteen.
In time, SpaceX hopes to launch ten Falcon Heavy rockets a year. It says the rocket should reduce launch costs to about two thousand dollars a kilogram. That is about one-tenth the cost of carrying loads into orbit on a space shuttle.
The Falcon Heavy would be the world's largest rocket.
The Falcon Heavy will be capable of carrying over 117,000 pounds to orbit, the equivalent of an entire commercial airplane full of passengers, crew, luggage, and fuel.
Falcon Heavy will include three nine-engine cores, which will allow it to continue its mission even if some engines fail.
It carries twice the payload of the Delta IV Heavy at one-third of the cost, or about $1,000 per pound.
http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/Test-of-Big-Space-Rocket-Set-for-Late-2012-119564549.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383157,00.asp
