The SpaceX Starship will shatter records as the tallest launch vehicle ever built(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Elon Musk is about to unleash the biggest mega-rocket in human history next week in a mind-blowing space gamble that could change cosmic travel forever. SpaceX is gearing up to launch a massively overhauledStarship craft.
If thehigh-stakes testsucceeds, the behemoth will shatter records as both the tallest and most powerful launch vehicle ever built. The world will be watching, but no one will be biting their nails quite as much as NASA, which is desperately relying on the vehicle to blast astronauts back to the Moon by 2028.
Thecolossal rocketis split into two main sections, with the upper stage known simply as Starship and the lower stage as Super Heavy.
Elon Musk's engineers have been working around the clock(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Musk's engineers have been working around the clock to completely redesign both halves since the last major test flight back in October.
The upcoming twelfth test flight, pencilled in to blast off as early as May 19, will debut the brand-new "Version 3" models of both crafts.
To make the stakes even higher, the rocket will be powered by upgraded Raptor 3 engines, which have only seen limited action so far, and will lift off from a completely redesigned launchpad at SpaceX's Starbase in Texas.
The rocket will be powered by upgraded Raptor 3 engines(Image: SPACEX/AFP via Getty Images)
The Super Heavy booster has had its steering grid fins chopped from four down to three, but their size has been beefed up by a whopping 50 percent to help guide it back to Earth.
Source: Drudge Report
