Spotlight: SpaceX launches world's most powerful rocket, taking Tesla Roadster to Mars

    Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-07 06:35:28|Editor: ZD
    Video PlayerClose

    U.S.-FLORIDA-SPACEX-FALCON HEAVY-LAUNCH

    A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the United States, Feb. 6, 2018. The Falcon Heavy blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. State of Florida at 3:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT), carrying something just for fun: a red Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk. (Xinhua/NASA)

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The private U.S. space flight company SpaceX on Tuesday launched the world's most powerful operational rocket into space in a much-hyped demonstration mission deemed to have the potential to bring a revolution in the space industry.

    The Falcon Heavy blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. State of Florida at 3:45 p.m. EST (2145 GMT), carrying something just for fun: a red Tesla Roadster belonging to SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk.

    So far, everything has gone as planned, with the rocket's two side boosters landing simultaneously back on ground about eight minutes after liftoff.

    Eventually, the rocket's second stage will try to place the Roadster, playing David Bowie's Space Oddity, into a Mars-adjacent orbit.

    "We estimate it'll be in that orbit for several hundred million years, maybe even in excess of a billion years," Musk told reporters during a media call.

    LOW EXPECTATIONS

    The tech billionaire has repeatedly played down expectations for the launch, saying that the mission might end in explosion.

    "This is a test mission as I said there's so much that can go wrong, so we don't want to set expectations of perfection," he said.

    "I would consider it a win if it just clears the pad and doesn't blow the pad to smithereens."

    Musk admitted that there's a chance that the rocket's second stage might not make it out of low-Earth orbit.

    That's because it will "coast" for six hours through the Van Allen radiation belt, where it may "get whacked pretty hard," he said.

    DOUBLING LIFT CAPACITY

    The Falcon Heavy is essentially three of the company's Falcon 9 rockets bolted together.

    With a total of 27 Merlin engines, it's capable of generating "more than 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg) of thrust at liftoff, equal to about eighteen 747 aircraft," according to SpaceX.

    Only the Saturn V moon rocket, last flown in 1973, delivered more payload to orbit.

    The rocket will be able to lift 64 tons into orbit, doubling the lift capacity of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost, the company said.

    Jason Davis of the Planetary Society hailed the demo flight as "a huge deal, even for a spaceflight company that routinely accomplishes huge deals."

    "An operational Falcon Heavy will make SpaceX the proud owner of the most powerful rocket system since the Saturn V, and opens up yet another corner of the launch industry to serious competition," he wrote in a blog article.

    Eric Stallmer, president of the U.S. Commercial Spaceflight Federation, said the successful launch "represents a momentous milestone for SpaceX and the commercial space industry, as the first heavy lift launch vehicle developed and launched with fully private funding."

    "As we look forward to all that 2018 holds for the U.S. commercial space industry, this is an exciting way to kick off the new year," Stallmer said in a statement.

    GAME OVER FOR COMPETITORS

    For this test flight, Falcon Heavy's two side boosters are both "flight-proven." One launched the Thaicom 8 satellite in May 2016 and the other supported the International Space Station mission in July 2016.

    In order to bring reusability to a whole new level, SpaceX tried to recover all three of Falcon Heavy's first stages during the test.

    A livestream showed that the two side boosters have successfully landed back at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

    The fate of the middle one, which was set to land on a drone ship floating in the Atlantic Ocean, was unclear, because the video signal from the drone ship was lost.

    Rocket reusability could significantly bring down the cost of launching Falcon Heavy, thus attracting potential customers.

    "We're able to offer arguably super-heavy-lift, or nearly super-heavy-lift capability, for not much more than a Falcon 9," said Musk.

    "If we're successful in this, it is game over for all the other heavy-lift rockets."

       1 2 3 Next  

    KEY WORDS: SpaceX
    EXPLORE XINHUANET
    010020070750000000000000011100001369543131
    主站蜘蛛池模板: 大学生久久香蕉国产线看观看| 欧美亚洲人成网站在线观看刚交| 国产成人亚洲综合无码| www.色偷偷.com| 日韩欧美一二三| 亚洲码一区二区三区| 美女让男人捅爽| 国产成人精品视频一区| 9999热视频| 性xxxxfreexxxxx国产| 九九99re在线视频精品免费| 波多野结衣免费在线观看| 国产AV一区二区精品凹凸| 人人洗澡人人洗澡人人| 夜夜爱夜夜做夜夜爽| 中文字幕专区高清在线观看| 最近2019mv中文字幕免费看| 亚洲美女激情视频| 精品无人区乱码1区2区| 国产又黄又大又粗的视频| 400部国产真实乱| 奇米影视第四色在线| 中文精品北条麻妃中文| 日韩精品无码成人专区| 亚洲成人网在线| 狠狠精品干练久久久无码中文字幕 | 日本边添边摸边做边爱的网站| 亚洲成AV人片在WWW色猫咪| 男女做羞羞的事漫画| 国产99视频精品免视看9| 成人精品一区二区户外勾搭野战| 国产美女无遮挡免费网站| www.激情小说.com| 成人毛片全部免费观看| 久久强奷乱码老熟女网站| 欧美www网站| 亚洲欧美清纯校园另类| 男女啪啪激烈高潮喷出GIF免费| 四虎国产精品永久在线| 青青艹在线观看| 在线观看xxx|