The photos were published in their raw form by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and provide the best look yet at one of Saturn’s most peculiar neighbors.Īs moons go, Atlas is pretty tiny. In many ways, it is like comparing a retired champion to an up-and-comer who, despite showing lots of promise and getting all the headlines, has yet to win a single bout.These new images are the closest photos ever taken of Atlas, with Cassini snapping them at a distance of roughly 7,000 miles. While the Saturn V can put a heavier payload into orbit or send it on to another celestial body, the Falcon Heavy could perform several missions for every one mounted by its competitor.īut whereas the contributions of the venerable Saturn V cannot be denied, the Falcon Heavy has yet to demonstrate its true worth to space exploration. On the other hand, the Falcon Heavy is smaller, lighter, and a lot cheaper. It is bigger and heavier and can deliver a bigger payload to space. You can see that, when the two are put next to each other, the Saturn V has the advantage when it comes to muscle. As of April of this year, SpaceX has indicated that a Falcon Heavy could lift 2,268 kg (8,000 lbs) to GTO for a cost of $90 million a launch - which works out to $ 3,968.25 per kg ($1,125 per pound). Adjusted for inflation, this works out to about $1.23 billion per launch, of which $710 million went toward production.īy contrast, when Musk appeared before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in May 2004, he said his ultimate goal with the development of SpaceX was to bring the total cost per launch down to $1,100 per kilogram ($500/pound). In terms of individual launches, the Saturn V would cost $185 million to $189 million, of which $110 million was spent on production alone. Each core also includes four extensible landing legs and grid fins to control descent and conduct landings.Īdjusted to 2016 dollars, that works out to $41.4 billion. These are arranged in a 3-by-3 fashion (what SpaceX refers to as the Octaweb) to streamline the manufacturing process. The first stage is powered by three Falcon 9 cores, each of which is equipped with nine Merlin 1D engines. The rocket relies on two stages, with the possibility of more to come, that measure 70 meters (229.6 ft) in height and 12.2 meters (39.9 ft) in width. With three landing pads now planned (instead of one on land and a drone barge at sea), the company hopes to be able to recover all of the spent boosters that will be used for the launch of a Falcon Heavy.Īdjusted to 2016 dollars, the Saturn V's launch cost about $41.4 billion. SpaceX also announced in July that it planned to expand its landing facility near Cape Canaveral to take advantage of the reusable technology. The rocket has also been relocated to the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida. But by mid-2015, delays caused by failures with Falcon 9 test flights caused the first launch to be pushed to late 2016. The first launch from Vandenberg was to take place in 2013, while the first launch from Cape Canaveral was to take place in late 2013 or 2014. The original timetable, proposed in 2011, put the rocket's arrival at SpaceX's West Coast launch location - Vandenberg Air Force Base in California - at before the end of 2012. In 2015, the design was changed - alongside changes to the Falcon 9 v.1.1 - to take advantage of the new Merlin 1D engine and changes to the propellant tanks. In 2013, these estimates were revised to 54,400 kg (119,900 lbs) to LEO and 22,200 kg (48,900 lbs) to GTO, as well as 16,000 kilograms (35,000 lbs) to translunar trajectory and 13,600 kilograms (31,000 lbs) on a trans-Martian orbit to Mars, and 2,900 kg (6,400 lbs) to Pluto. In a statement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk drew direct comparisons to the Saturn V, claiming that the Falcon Heavy would deliver 'more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program.'Ĭonsistent with this promise of a 'super heavy-lift' vehicle, SpaceX's original specifications indicated a projected payload of 53,000 kilograms, or 117,000 pounds, to low-Earth orbit, and 12,000 kg (26,000 lbs) to geosynchronous transfer orbit. It often indicates a user profile.Įlon Musk himself has drew direct comparisons between Saturn V and the Falcon Heavy.ĭevelopment of the Falcon Heavy was first announced in 2011 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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