If Elon Musk wants to get to Mars, SpaceX will have to combine three rockets into one mammoth engine. will it work? An expert weighs in.
SPACEX CEO ELON MUSK has made it pretty clear he wants to die on Mars (just not on impact!). He believes we should be a multi-planetary species and SpaceX has been marching towards that goal since its founding in 2002. Every new rocket engine, every launch, every trip to the International Space Station is not just a business transaction, but also an opportunity to upgrade SpaceX’s engineering savvy and expand its portfolio of launch capabilities. Because before Elon can retire overlooking Olympus Mons, the company is going to need to get a lot of people and payload into space. That’s why, before the year is out, they hope to launch what will be the most powerful rocket on the planet: the Falcon Heavy. It will be a challenge unlike any yet faced in the era of private spaceflight. Can the team at SpaceX pull it off?
This story is from the February 2018 edition of Popular Mechanics South Africa.
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This story is from the February 2018 edition of Popular Mechanics South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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