SpaceX’s new rocket ready for 1st test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

SpaceX’s hot new monster rocket is set to make its first test flight this week.

It will blast off as early as Tuesday from the same launch pad in Florida that hoisted men to the moon a half-century ago.

The Falcon Heavy won’t surpass NASA’s Saturn V moon rocket, still all-time king of the launch circuit. It won’t even approach the liftoff might of NASA’s space shuttles. But when it makes its launch debut, the Heavy with its three boosters and 27 engines will be the most powerful working rocket out there today.