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The largest rocket since the Apollo Mission Saturn V, the new Lockheed Martin Atlas V, was successfully launched for the first time from Cape Canaveral yesterday. The Atlas V is to replace the Lockheed Martin Titan rockets that have been largely used by the US military to launch satellites. The first stage engines of the new rocket are fuelled by kerosene and liquid oxygen and were built by the Russian company Energia that builds the Soyuz spacecraft. The upper Centaur stage of the Atlas V uses liquid hydrogen and oxygen to deliver payloads into Earth orbit. With strap-on solid-fuel boosters and an additional Centaur stage, the Atlas V can lift 20,250 kilograms of payload, nearly twice as much as existing Atlas rockets.
Models suggest that given enough warning an asteroid or comet on a collision course with the Earth could be deflected using explosives or a non-explosive impactor. New rockets, such as the Atlas V, that can deliver large payloads into space would, therefore, probably play a role in deflecting a Near Earth Object, if this was ever deemed necessary.
More info: Lockheed Martin Atlas V
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