Today’s launch of Falcon9 and Dragon was a rousing success as essential supplies are now making their way to the ISS. As for the Falcon9 rocket, it reportedly “landed” on the droneship, but with considerable force.
Image: SpaceX
Today’s launch happened at 4:10 PM ET/1:10 PM PT. The attempting landing occurred about eight minutes later.
SpaceX and Elon Musk are reporting that the rocket made its way to the barge, but landed way too hard:
Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/588075066757361664
Here’s quick gif of the lift off.
Here’s the launch in all it’s glory:
To recap, this will be the third attempt to land the rocket (not including yesterday’s scrub), though the second attempt was called off due to high seas. For today’s launch, the rocket will be loaded with more hydraulic fluid, which ran out during the first attempt. The barge has also been upgraded to handle rougher seas.
The un-occupied SpaceX rocket will be taking off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It’s headed for the International Space Station where it will deposit its cargo (payload details here). Among the various items going up are several zero-g coffee cups to go with the new espresso maker.
Additional reporting by Mika McKinnon
All images SpaceX
