'Major Pucker Factor': Will SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Ace Its Maiden Launch?

[kevindavis007]

SpaceX says its Falcon Heavy, which is slated to make its maiden launch in November from the historic Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, will be the world's most powerful operational rocket.


No matter how you look at it, the reusable Falcon Heavy is a big deal. Its first stage is composed of three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores, adding up to a total of 27 Merlin engines that will generate 5 million lbs. of thrust at liftoff.


The mega-lifter was designed from the outset to propel humans into space, and it could eventually fly missions with crew to the moon and Mars. But the first flight may not go so well, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. [SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket in Images]


"There's a lot that could go wrong there. I encourage people to come down to the Cape to see the first Falcon Heavy mission; it's guaranteed to be exciting," Musk said in July at the 2017 International Space Station Research and Development conference in Washington, D.C. (The "Cape" is Cape Canaveral, where KSC is located.)


"There's a lot of risk associated with the Falcon Heavy … a real good chance that [the] vehicle does not make it to orbit," he added. "I want to make sure to set expectations accordingly."


Read More: http://www.isn-news.net/2017/09/major-pucker-factor-will-spacexs-falcon.html

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SpaceX says the ‘world’s most powerful rocket’ has completed first-stage testing

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/04/musks-spacex-says-worlds-most-powerful-rocket-has-completed-first-stage-testing.html

David Reid @cnbcdavy

SpaceX has announced that is has completed first-stage testing on the Falcon Heavy, its new heavy-lift rocket.

The Falcon Heavy has been touted as a crucial element of CEO Elon Musk's ambitious plan to reuse rockets that can fly crew as far away as Mars.

In a tweet, the company said that three first-stage cores have completed their testing, and published a video showing one test in progress. A first-stage core is the section of a rocket that launches and propels it into space.

    Tweet1

According to the SpaceX website, Falcon Heavy could carry up to 37,000 pounds of cargo and crew to the red planet.

It is viewed as an upgrade on the Falcon 9 rocket which has made several trips to space since it first launched in 2012.

"Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost," the site claimed.