This weekend of trials and errors for SpaceX culminated with a successful return of Falcon 9, one of the reusable rockets of Elon Musk’s company. The part of the rocket that’s usually left to fall into the ocean returned to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida #todaymagic
You have to remember last fall’s shocking explosion of the Falcon 9. It should have stalled Elon Musk’s progress with reusable rockets for a long while but fortunately, this weekend SpaceX Falcon 9 managed lift-off and a terrific, smooth landing of the part that can be reused, officially:
You watched it in 4k, right? Don’t disappoint us!
Now, not only did Falcon 9 prove that reusable rockets are possible and can save approximately $62 million (the cost of building a new one) but it also brought back to life Launch Complex 39A from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If that doesn’t tell you much, then you should know that this is the place where Apollo 11 took off in 1969 with the first two humans to ever walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
In a way, the launch honored that accomplishment while also stressing the fact that this event is no small feat. In fact, it’s just the third time that SpaceX has managed to make a booster come down on land, though Falcon 9 reusable rockets have had 8 successful landings so far. The other landings occurred on floating platforms in the ocean.
This time, the rocket was carrying a Dragon supply ship to the ISS as part of a project with NASA. It carried 5,500 pounds of cargo and equipment for scientific experiments, including an antibiotic-resistant superbug that, once in a zero-gravity environment, could help us understand how it mutates to become resistant to antibiotics. This way, scientists would know how to fight against it.
The Dragon ship entered Earth’s orbit a couple of minutes after the Falcon 9 returned to Florida. It should dock with the ISS this Wednesday with the help of a robotic arm.
In the next cargo mission for NASA, SpaceX will deploy a used capsule. This is expected to happen sometime this Spring. Next year, Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX, said they were going to focus on Elon Musk’s plan to send people to Mars.
Follow TechTheLead on Google News to get the news first.
