SpaceX marks a historic milestone on June 25th when its mega-rocket Falcon Heavy successfully launched more than two dozen satellites in one of the most difficult maneuvers in space exploration. It was Falcon Heavy’s first time when its engines blasted out in the night sky and carried a massive payload for universities, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the non-profit organization The Planetary Society. The launch was a part of the US Air Force’s STP-2 (Space Test Program).
As part of the mission, three of the first stage boosters successfully landed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. However, the central core booster narrowly missed the target. Earlier, SpaceX representatives pointed it out multiple times that core booster might miss its target due to the complications in higher-than-normal speeds. Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO, described it as the SpaceX’s “most difficult launch ever”.
The launch was also historic because this is the first time Falcon Heavy reused the boosters to fly. The two side boosters had previously been used in April to launch the first commercial flight of Falcon Heavy.
It is pertinent to mention here that Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket in the world. SpaceX has claimed that Falcon Heavy has “the ability to lift into orbit nearly 64 metric tons (141,000 lb) ―a mass greater than a 737 jetliner loaded with passengers, crew, luggage, and fuel”.
Muhammad Abdullah Khan has done bachelors in Chemistry from Government College University
Lahore. He is a science enthusiast and loves to read and write about astronomy, cosmology and latest
scientific endeavors.
