Space companies want to check off these three big criteria to build the perfect rocket: safety, the ability to carry a large payload, and affordability
. Not even three of the most high-profile new space companies were immune to safety concerns.
Typical rockets, which can take anywhere from a year to five to construct, undergo hundreds of tests before getting the green light to lift off. But unlike a faulty car that can be recalled or a plane that can be grounded, a rocket doesn’t have the luxury of turning back the clock. How much cargo a spacecraft can hold usually depends on what the mission needs a spacecraft to achieve. “Everything that you add to the rocket is heavy, and so if you have to carry it along, that makes the rocket thicker,” Schiller said. And that includes fuel. NASA’s Saturn V rocket, used to launch the Apollo missions, was one of the largest and most expensive rockets to date. It was able to carry 107,000 lbs of material to the moon.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ex-official: Space station 'largely isolated' from tensionsThe former head of the National Space Council tells The Associated Press that tensions over eastern Ukraine should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or U.S.-Russia cooperation in space.
Read more »
Catering to audiences’ desires crucial to fashion event spaceWhether attracting consumers to a virtual or in-person event, connection is of the utmost importance.
Read more »
US and Russia still tethered by International Space Station during Ukraine conflictOperations on the ISS have not changed
Read more »
U.S.-Russian cooperation in space abides despite tensions over UkraineThe longstanding collaboration between the United States and Russia in operating the International Space Station (ISS) appears to be on solid footing even as tensions between the two countries build over the Ukraine crisis.
Read more »
There's a lot we don't know about the International Space Station's ocean graveThe International Space Station will follow a long line of retired spacecraft that have been laid to rest in Point Nemo’s ‘space cemetery.’
Read more »