Last time you were given brief information on the Saturn V SA-506 and the Falcon Heavy and spacesuits. Now we are going to compare these two rockets with many other rockets. Saturn V was one of three types of Saturn rockets. Saturn 1 and Saturn 1B were used to get humans in Earth orbit while Saturn V was used to get people beyond Earth to the Moon. The Saturn 1 has a mass of 1.124 million lbs. The Saturn 1B has a mass of 1,300,220 lbs (589,770 kg); without payload, and the Saturn V has a mass of 6.54 million lbs. These rockets are similar and only one was used to get people to the Moon. The Falcon Heavy is said to be one of the best rockets today. The Falcon Heavy cost $90 million USD to build. The Saturn V cost $185 million in 1969-1971 and in 2016 it would cost $1.16 billion.

Now let’s compare the Falcon Heavy to Delta III. The Delta had its last launch on August 23, 2000, and has a mass of 664,600 lbs. It has a maximum speed of 210 km/h (130 mph). The Falcon Heavy top speed is 11 kilometers per second or 24,606.6 mph. The Delta III has a payload of GTO (geosynchronous transfer orbit) of 3,810 kg (8,390 lb) and the Falcon Heavy has one of 26,700 kg (58,900 lb). Delta III could deliver 8,400 pounds (3,800 kilograms). That is twice of its predecessor, the Delta II. It can carry 8,290 kg (18,280 lb). The Falcon Heavy has 27 engines that together have a 5 million pounds of thrust on liftoff and can put around 140,000 pounds of cargo into lower earth orbit.

The Titan 23G was derived from the LGM-25C Titan intercontinental ballistic missile. The Titan 23G consisted of two stages. The first stage was powered by one Aerojet LR87 engine and the second was propelled by an LR91 engine. It was used to carry payloads for the US Air Force, NASA, and NOAA. The Titan IV was made after the Titan 23G and at the time was the largest unmanned space booster used by the Air Force. The Titan IV could launch without an upper stage. It was only meant to complement the space shuttle and fly ten times, but the Challenger Disaster caused a dependence on expendable launch systems. It was retired in 2005 due to its high cost of operation.

Have you heard of Dragon? If not, it is a free-flying spacecraft designed to deliver cargo and people to orbiting destinations. It made history in 2012 when it became the first commercial spacecraft in history to deliver cargo to the ISS and safely return cargo to Earth. It can carry 7 passengers to and from Earth’s orbit. Its total launch payload mass is 6,000 kg (13,228 lbs). They launched Dragon on March 2, 2019, and successfully docked with the ISS. It’s has a launch payload mass of 6,000 kg (13,228 lbs) and a return payload mass of 3,000 kg (6,614 lbs). SpaceX also made a space suit for passengers of Dragon. The suit provides a pressurized environment for the crew members and routes the communications and cooling systems to astronauts aboard a regular flight. The SuperDraco being the rocket used can produce 73,000 newtons of thrust.

We are getting further and further into the way we get to space. In “The Evolution of Space Travel Part 3” we will focus on what’s to come in the next few years with space exploration and vehicles expected to be launched, if any, to see what is expected for our future.