Great space rocket test set for the end of 2012 Video Clips. Duration : 4.02 Mins.
This is the VOA Special English by Technology Report voaspecialenglish.com | http A U.S. space company says a powerful new rocket should be ready for a test launch by the end of next year. Space Exploration Society Technologies, or SpaceX. The new missile is called Falcon heavy. Officials say the company is able to carry, satellites or spacecraft weighing up to 53 tons into orbit. The weight of the load is twice the capacity of NASA's space shuttles. SpaceAgency will retire its shuttles after thirty years. Elon Musk is the CEO of SpaceX. He said, 53 tons more than the gross vehicle weight of a Boeing 737 with 136 passengers, baggage and fuel. It has payload capacity of more than any other spacecraft in history, he says, apart from the Saturn Five. NASA Saturn Five rockets used during the Apollo and Skylab programs in the sixties and seventies. A Saturn Five has launched the Apollo 11 missionthat the first men landed on the moon in 1969. The missiles were withdrawn from service in 1973. But never remain strong built.Elon Musk says the Falcon rocket heavy is the second largest ever. He says it's designed to do more than carry satellites and other space equipment. He says the missile has been developed to meet NASA's human spaceflight safety classifications. So may one day be used to transport astronauts and other travelers...
