NASA Unveils Plans for Most Powerful Rocket Ever
NASA has finally unveiled their plans for the next-generation rocket workhorse that will help get future generations into space. The rocket design, called the Space Launch System, is a multibillion-dollar program that will transport astronauts in a capsule-type vehicle that is placed on the top of the Launch System. The program will take six years to complete costing around $18 billion over the next five years. If the rocket looks familiar, it is because the design looks very similar to the original Apollo designs that the recently retired Space Shuttle replaced decades ago.
The rocket would be more powerful than the Apollo-era Saturn booster that carried crews and equipment to the moon between 1969 and 1972. Compared with the now-retired space shuttle, which could carry about 50,000 pounds (22,500 kg) to an orbit about 300 miles from Earth, the new booster is intended to lift as much as 140,000 pounds (63,000 kg) of cargo.
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