(PCM) The news has been announced that NASA has approved development on a new incredibly powerful rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) which will finally be able to travel outside of Earth’s obit by sometime in the 2030’s.
If all goes according to plan, the SLS will be able to launch its’ first test flight by the year 2018 during which it will carry an Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit using a 70-metric-ton life capacity at a cost of $7.021 billion.
NASA claims that the SLS will be the world’s most capable rocket and it’s lift capacity will be 130 metric tons. This new technology may very well indeed make a journey to the planet Mars a very real endeavor.
The SLS has been in development for nearly three years and is the first heavy lift launch vehicle created in nearly 40 years.