SpaceX's New Rocket Ready for First Flight

 

SpaceX’s huge rocket makes its first launch this week. It will leave from the same launch pad that sent men to the moon almost 50 years ago.

The rocket, called the ‘Falcon¹ Heavy’, could be launched as early as Tuesday. When it does, it will be the most powerful working rocket in use today.

The Falcon Heavy represents an important moment for the private space company created 16 years ago by Elon Musk². The rocket will be capable of lifting extremely large satellites into orbit and sending spacecraft to the moon, Mars³ and beyond.

The rocket already has several customers, including the U.S. Air Force.

“I can’t wait to see it fly and to see it fly again and again,” said the Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern⁴. He’s the lead scientist for NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which recently flew by Pluto⁵.

Cape⁶ Canaveral, the launch location, has not seen this kind of excitement since the last space shuttle flight in 2011. The city expects huge crowds for the afternoon launch from Kennedy Space Center. Visitor center tickets for the best viewing, called “Feel the Heat” and “Closest Package,” sold out quickly.

The Heavy is capable of delivering 63,800 kilograms of cargo⁷ to low-Earth orbit, nearly 26,700 kilograms to high-Earth orbit, and smaller cargo to Mars and Pluto.

But for its first flight, the rocket will carry Musk’s red Tesla Roadster automobile⁸. In addition to SpaceX, he runs the electric car maker⁹ Tesla.

“Red car for a red planet,” Musk tweeted in December, when announcing the surprise cargo. New rockets usually carry blocks of steel or other heavy material instead of true cargo. But Musk felt that was “extremely boring.”

The rocket is intended to continually orbit around the sun, wide enough to pass by Mars. The car will be playing the song “Space Oddity,” by the musician David Bowie

New business era for space travel

NASA officials said the Falcon Heavy is the latest evidence of the Kennedy Space Center’s transformation¹⁰ into a multi-user spaceport. This is a change after many years of launching the space agency’s space shuttles.

Besides Space X, NASA is building its own Space Launch System, or SLS, mega-rocket. And Blue Origin, led by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, is also developing a big, reusable orbital-class rocket

The Heavy Falcon costs around $90 million, which is still cheaper than the larger SLS rocket being built by NASA. It is expected to cost over $1 billion a flight.

In 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to launch a spacecraft into orbit and then safely guide it back to Earth, something only large governments had done. Two years later, SpaceX became the first commercial supplier of the International Space Station. Now the company wants to have the first commercial crew launch.

Retired¹¹ NASA historian¹² and Smithsonian curator Roger Launius warned that SpaceX has “a long history of overpromising,” although eventually succeeding.

The Heavy’s first flight, for example, has been delayed for years. Musk has admitted the rocket proved harder to build than he thought. He has also been warning for months the rocket might not make it higher than the launch tower.

However, Launius says he is happy for anyone who creates a successful rocket, and will congratulate Musk if he succeeds.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

afternoon - n. the middle part of the day?

cargo - n. something that is carried from one place to another by boat, airplane, etc.?

customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business?

cheap - adj. not costing a lot of money?

commercial - adj. related to or used in the buying and selling of goods and services?

curator - n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum, zoo, etc.?

deliver - v. to take (something) to a person or place?

intend - adj. to plan or want to do (something) ?

location - n. a place or position?

package - n. a group of related things that are sold together for a single price?

pad - n. a flat area on the ground where helicopters can take off or land?

spacecraft - n. a vehicle that is used for travel in outer space?

spaceport - n. a base from which spacecraft are launched.?

tower - n. a tall, narrow building or structure that may stand apart from or be attached to another building or structure?

transformation - n. a complete or major change in someone's or something's appearance, form, etc.?

viewing - n. the things that can be seen from a particular place

1 falcon   

n.隼，猎鹰

参考例句：

• The falcon was twice his size with pouted feathers.鹰张开羽毛比两只鹰还大。
• The boys went hunting with their falcon.男孩子们带着猎鹰出去打猎了。

2 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

3 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

4 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

5 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

6 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。