Gadgets Africa
  • News
    Microsoft introduces ads to Bing AI chatbot

    Microsoft introduces ads to Bing AI chatbot

    Executives at Meta Platforms Inc are discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe.

    Meta considers ban on political ads

    Twitter unveils prices for API access

    Twitter unveils prices for API access

    Microsoft raises Bing AI chat limit to 200 daily

    Microsoft raises Bing AI chat limit to 200 daily

    Instagram introduces bookmarking feature

    Instagram introduces bookmarking feature

    Hackers target UAE users with Spanish spyware - Google

    Hackers target UAE users with Spanish spyware – Google

    EFCC detains tech firm Kloud Commerce's founder Olumide Olusanya

    EFCC detains tech firm Kloud Commerce’s founder Olumide Olusanya

    Google to launch extreme heat alerts feature

    Google to launch extreme heat alerts feature

    Musk, experts call for pause on AI development

    Musk, experts call for pause on AI development

  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders
Gadgets Africa
No Result
View All Result

NASA rolls out its mega Moon rocket

by Agency Report
March 18, 2022
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
NASA rolls out its mega Moon rocket

File

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Telegram

NASA’s massive new rocket eased onto its launchpad Friday, ready for a battery of tests that will clear it to blast off to the Moon this summer on an uncrewed flight.

It left the Kennedy Space Centre’s Vehicle Assembly Building Thursday evening and began a nearly 11-hour journey on a crawler-transporter to the hallowed Launch Complex 39B, arriving at 4:15 am.

Around 10,000 people had gathered to watch the event.

– Huge rocket, huge cost –
With the Orion crew capsule fixed on top, the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 stands 322 feet (98 meters) high — taller than the Statue of Liberty, but a little smaller than the 363 feet Saturn V rockets that powered the Apollo missions to the Moon.

Still, it will produce 8.8 million pounds of maximum thrust (39.1 Meganewtons), 15 per cent more than the Saturn V, meaning it’s expected to be the world’s most powerful rocket at the time it begins operating.

Having reached the iconic launchpad, where 53 Space Shuttles took off, there are roughly two more weeks’ worth of checks before what’s known as the “wet dress rehearsal.”

The SLS team will load more than 700,000 gallons (3.2 million litres) of cryogenic propellant into the rocket and practice every phase of launch countdown, stopping ten seconds before blast off.

“From this sacred and historical place, humanity will soon embark on a new era of exploration,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Friday.

A symbol of US space ambition, it also comes with a hefty price tag: $4.1 billion per launch for the first four Artemis missions, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin told Congress this month.

– To the Moon and beyond –
NASA is targeting May as the earliest window for Artemis-1, an uncrewed lunar mission that will be the first integrated flight for SLS and Orion.

SLS will first place Orion into a low Earth orbit, and then, using its upper stage, perform what’s called a trans-lunar injection.

This maneuver is necessary to send Orion 280,000 miles beyond Earth and 40,000 miles beyond the Moon — further than any spaceship capable of carrying humans has ventured.

On its three-week mission, Orion will deploy 10 shoebox-size satellites known as CubeSats to gather information on the deep space environment.

Its “passengers” will include three mannequins collecting radiation data, and a plush Snoopy toy, long a NASA mascot.

It will journey around the far side of the Moon, using thrust provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) thruster, and finally make its way back to Earth, where its heat shield will be tested against the atmosphere.

Splashdown takes place in the Pacific, off the coast of California.

Artemis-2 will be the first crewed test, flying around the Moon but not landing, while Artemis-3, planned for 2025, will see the first woman and first person of colour touch down on the lunar south pole.

NASA wants to build a permanent presence on the Moon, and use it as a proving ground for technologies necessary for a Mars mission, sometime in the 2030s, using a Block 2 evolution of the SLS.

– SLS v Starship –
NASA calls SLS a “super heavy-lift exploration class vehicle.” The only currently operational super-heavy rocket is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, which is smaller.

Elon Musk’s company is also developing its own deep-space rocket, the fully reusable Starship, which he has said should be ready for an orbital test this year.

Starship would be both bigger and more powerful than SLS: 394 feet tall with 17 million pounds of thrust. It could also be considerably cheaper.

The tycoon has suggested that within years, the cost per launch could be as little as $10 million.

Direct comparisons are complicated by the fact that while SLS is designed to fly direct to its destinations, SpaceX foresees putting a Starship into orbit, and then refuelling it with another Starship so it can continue its journey, to extend range and payload.

NASA has also contracted a version of Starship as a lunar descent vehicle for Artemis.

Other super-heavy rockets under development include Blue Origin’s New Glenn, China’s Long March 9 and Russia’s Yenisei.

AFP

Tags: Kennedy Space Centre
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Microsoft introduces ads to Bing AI chatbot
News

Microsoft introduces ads to Bing AI chatbot

by Alex Omenye
March 30, 2023
Executives at Meta Platforms Inc are discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe.
News

Meta considers ban on political ads

by Alex Omenye
March 30, 2023
Twitter unveils prices for API access
featured

Twitter unveils prices for API access

by Alex Omenye
March 30, 2023
Microsoft raises Bing AI chat limit to 200 daily
News

Microsoft raises Bing AI chat limit to 200 daily

by Alex Omenye
March 29, 2023
Next Post
Meta builds AI machine to translate Igbo, other African languages

Australia sues Facebook owner Meta over scam ads

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended.

India fines Google $162m over market dominance

Google inaugurates first development centre in Africa

April 21, 2022
Twitter user jailed 45 years for challenging Saudi royals

Twitter ban unlawful, ECOWAS Court rules

August 11, 2022

Trending.

GitLab to cut 7% workforce

GitLab to cut 7% workforce

February 9, 2023
Why I am buying Twitter - Elon Musk

Elon Musk offers to buy 100% of Twitter

April 14, 2022
Fintech startup NowNow raises $13M seed

Fintech startup NowNow raises $13M seed

September 7, 2022
LinkedIn on Wednesday published a list of the top 10 innovative Nigerian startups that offer opportunities for job seekers in Nigeria.

Moove, Piggyvest make LinkedIn’s top 10 Nigerian startups

September 28, 2022
ChatGPT is useful for criminals, EU police warn

ChatGPT is useful for criminals, EU police warn

March 27, 2023
Gadgets Africa

© 2023 Gadgets Africa.

Navigate Site

  • News
  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders

Share

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders

© 2023 Gadgets Africa.

Go to mobile version