SpaceX Just Built The Largest Rocket Yet, Could Take Humans To The Moon & Mars
Image via SpaceX
As SpaceX’s Starship prepares for its maiden flight, the spacecraft’s two halves – an upper-stage named ‘Starship’ and a booster called ‘Super Heavy’ – were recently joined together at the company’s research facility in Boca Chica, Texas. A giant crane put them together for about an hour before the parts were separated again.
According to the BBC, joined together, the rocket stands at 400 feet, making it the largest rocket ever assembled. For comparison, when the Starship lifts off, it’ll produce nearly two times the thrust of the rockets that took men to the Moon.
On its trip to space, Starship will circle around Earth once, before landing in waters off the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Super Heavy booster will break away mid-launch and touch down in the Gulf of Mexico. The team at SpaceX is working towards controlled landings in the future, so that rocket parts can be reused and aren’t lost at sea.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the Starship rocket will be capable of taking humans to the Moon and Mars. NASA is already working with SpaceX to produce a version of the Starship that’ll bring astronauts to the south pole of the Moon by the end of the decade.
Starship on the orbital launch pad pic.twitter.com/7p02cgNnUA
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 6, 2021
Super Heavy Booster moving to orbital launch mount pic.twitter.com/axaDnXNm84
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2021
[via BBC, cover image via SpaceX]
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