Aborting moon rocket to test Musk’s power

  • February 14, 2025
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Aborting moon rocket to test Musk’s power

Sub : Sci

Sec: Space sector

Why in news:

  • President Trump is under pressure to cancel NASA’s $24 billion Space Launch System (SLS) due to cost overruns and delays.
  • Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) supports this cancellation, proposing the cheaper Falcon Heavy rocket (developed by SpaceX) as an alternative.

Status of SLS Program:

  • Launched in 2022 after years of delays but faces criticism for being overpriced and using outdated technology.
  • Each SLS launch costs $2-4 billion, compared to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy at $250 million per launch.

Potential Impact:

  •   Streamlining the operations of NASA with cheaper private alternatives.
  •   Risk of job losses – Senators oppose cancellation, emphasizing national security and local employment (employing 28,000 workers).
Key Concepts

NASA’s Artemis Mission 

The Space Launch System (SLS) is NASA’s next-generation heavy-lift rocket designed to carry astronauts and cargo beyond low Earth orbit, including missions to the Moon (Artemis* program) and eventually Mars.

  • Artemis is NASA’s program to explore the Moon and prepare for human missions to Mars.

Objectives:

  • Study how the Sun’s radiation interacts with the Moon, which lacks a magnetic field.
  • Establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
  • Enables future deep space missions including Mars expeditions.

Mission Significance:

  • Land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.
  • Utilize the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for deep space travel.
  • Astronauts will dock at the Lunar Gateway before descending to the lunar surface.

Key Missions:

  • Artemis I: Uncrewed mission to test SLS and Orion spacecraft.
  • Artemis II: 1st Crewed mission orbiting around the Moon.
  • Artemis III: Will send the first humans to explore the region near the lunar South Pole.
  • Artemis IV: Debuts humanity’s first lunar space station, a larger, more powerful version of the SLS rocket, and new mobile launcher.

Falcon Heavy Rocket – Developed by SpaceX

  • Most powerful rocket globally (as per SpaceX).
  • Dimensions of Rocket: Height – 70 m, Width – 12.2 m, Mass – 1,420,788 kg.
  • Engines: 27 Merlin engines generating over 5 million pounds of thrust at lift off (equivalent to 18 Boeing 747 aircraft at full power).
  • Merlin engines: Developed by SpaceX, using RP-1 (refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen as propellants, designed for recovery and reuse.
  • Payload capacity: Can lift 64 metric tonnes into orbit.
  • Structure: Uses three boosters for additional thrust and lift capacity.
Aborting moon rocket to test Musk’s power Science and tech