The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to unveil its design for a rocket reminiscent of the giant liquid-fuel rockets that propelled men to the moon, but this time the destinations will be much farther and the rocket even more powerful. The U.S. space agency on Wednesday will announce its much-delayed general plans for the rocket, called the Space Launch System, which will cost about $35 billion, according to senior Obama administration sources and information obtained by the Associated Press. The rocket will carry astronauts in a capsule and start test launching in six years. The size, shape, and heavier reliance on liquid fuel, rather than solid-fuel boosters, is much closer to the famed Apollo missions than the recently retired space shuttles. It also is a shift in emphasis from the moon-based, solid-rocket-oriented plans proposed by the former George W. Bush administration. NASA believes it will be building and launching about one rocket per year for about 15 years or more in the 2020s and 2030s, administration officials said on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement. The idea is to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017 with the first crew flying in 2021 and astronauts heading to a nearby asteroid in 2025, they said. From there, NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars-at first to orbit, but then later landing on the planet-in the 2030s. Initially, the rockets will be able to carry into space 77 to 110 tons of payload, which would include the six-person Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle capsule and more. Eventually it will be able to carry 143 tons, possibly even 165 tons, the officials said. In comparison, the long-retired Saturn V rocket that sent men to the moon was able to lift 130 tons.
