No one has visited the moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. Nasa has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda.
To enable flights to the moon and beyond, both Nasa and SpaceX are developing new, heavy-lift rockets: SpaceX’s Starship and Nasa’s Space Launch System.
But how do they differ and which one is more powerful?
Starship
Rockets go through multiple stages to get into orbit. By discarding spent fuel tanks while in flight, the rocket becomes lighter and therefore easier to accelerate. Once in operation, SpaceX’s launch system will be comprised of two stages: the launch vehicle known as Super Heavy and the Starship.
Feb. 1—NASA will redo the Space Launch System rocket test that was cut short last month, the agency announced Friday.
On Jan. 16, NASA ignited the core stage of a rocket it’s developing to return astronauts to the moon. The rocket’s four engines, secured to a 35-story-tall test sta
No-one has visited the Moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. Nasa has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda.
To enable flights to the Moon and beyond, both Nasa and SpaceX are developing new heavy lift rockets: SpaceX’s Starship and Nasa’s Space Launch System.
But how do they differ and which one is more powerful?
Starship
Rockets go through multiple stages to get into orbit. By discarding spent fuel tanks while in flight, the rocket becomes lighter and therefore easier to accelerate. Once in operation, SpaceX’s launch system will be comprised of two stages: the launch vehicle known as Super Heavy and the Starship.
autoevolution 22 Jan 2021, 16:26 UTC ·
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Last weekend, the final and most important test for the Space Launch System rocket that will support the Artemis program took place. It was supposed to be an eight-minute firing of all four RS-25 engines of the core stage, but the entire test lasted for just a little over a minute after the engines shut off on their own. 1 photo
The reasons behind the early abort, if we can call it that, are still under investigation, but NASA says it had enough time since January 16 to assess whether the goals of the test were met. And, at least partially, they seem to have been achieved.