SpaceX lofted a Dragon cargo capsule on its way to the International Space Station early Saturday, but a highly anticipated attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket booster on an ocean platform ended with the stage smashing into the barge. The primary mission though was to place a Dragon capsule in orbit that is carrying more than 5,000 pounds of food, supplies and science experiments to the station and its six-person crew.
SpaceX could follow as soon as Jan. 29 with another Falcon 9 launch of a government science satellite, and possibly another landing attempt, if the drone ship can be repaired quickly.
Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and … actual pieces.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Before Picture of Drone spaceport ship heading to its hold position in the Atlantic to prepare for a rocket landing
SOURCES – Twitter, Spacex, Detroit Free Press
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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