Friday, January 29, 2016

The Trip to Mars #1: The Rocket

        Going to Mars has been a dream of mankind ever since the beginning of the Space Age, but technology has always been a roadblock for us. Now, as the Mars mission ramps up, these technological challenges are slowly being conquered. This week - the Rocket.
        Only a couple rockets in the history of space flight have been powerful enough to propel humans beyond the exosphere, so, NASA is designing a new rocket to get us beyond the moon. This Space Launch System is the beginning of humanity's 2nd foray onto the Moon and our 1st mission to Mars. The SLS is going to be the most powerful rocket ever built, with the Block 2 version weighing 6.5 million pounds and able to provide 9.2 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
        The SLS has 4 stages, the first of which is a Atlas V Rocket. This holds the fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the ascent and powers the spacecraft into Earth orbit. the first stage also includes solid rocket booster engines to give the rocket some extra kick while ascending. The 2nd stage has the Centaur module. This module includes the 2nd stage  fuel and oxidizer and the vehicle's "brains". It burns twice, the first time to get the spacecraft into low Earth orbit and then again to accelerate the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on its way towards Mars.
        Check back next time for the second issue of The Trip to Mars!

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