REAL LIFE NEWS: SPACEX ROCKET LANDS SUCCESSFULLY ON A BARGE
by Hazed
Last week, SpaceX finally succeeded in landing its Falcon 9 rocket on a barge. This follows its success in touching down on land, and its previous near miss at a sea landing – not to mention the time the rocket fell over, or that other time it exploded.
The Falcon 9 rocket, named Of Course I Still Love You, launched a Dragon capsule into space, carrying almost 7,000 pounds of supplies – including the inflatable module I told you about in last week’s Star. A few minutes after Dragon separated, the rocket that had launched it dropped down and manoeuvred itself into position to land upright on the drone-controlled barge. The floating platform was pitching about three degrees during the landing so the Falcon 9’s four engines had to work hard to keep it in position for landing on the moving target. Click the first source link below for a video of the landing.
The Falcon 9 has now been moved back to Port Canaveral for testing and will be fired ten times in a row on the ground. Assuming it checks out, it will be reused for a launch in the summer.
This is a landmark achievement in the quest for a reusable rocket. It’s very exciting.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-just-made-the-first-ocean-barge-1769942283
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/04/09/falcon_9_rocket_reused_in_two_months/
