September 15, 2011 | Louis

I’m not sure how I feel about splurging money on space flight in these tough economic times, but I can’t help but get excited by NASA’s plans for a huge new space rocket.

Named the Space Launch System (SLS), the US space agency’s new rocket will be the biggest and most powerful ever built, and should be capable of taking astronauts to Mars. The SLS will cost an estimated £11 billion, and its first test flight is planned for 2017.