SpaceX Rocket Has Hard Landing After Dragon Launched to International Space Station
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NASA TV(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) — SpaceX successfully sent its Dragon capsule on its way for a grocery run to the International Space Station, but a historic rocket recycling test was fumbled as it came barreling back toward Earth.
Elon Musk, the CEO of the private space company, tweeted that the third test to recycle a Falcon 9 rocket was not successful. While the rocket landed on its intended site, the impact was likely too hard for it to be salvaged, Musk said.
Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2015
Looks like Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing pic.twitter.com/eJWzN6KSJa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2015
The launch had been given a 60 percent chance for liftoff because of weather conditions. With less than three minutes left on the countdown, the initial launch was scrubbed Monday because of an anvil cloud within 10 nautical miles of the launch site at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Dragon has vital cargo on board, including 4,000 pounds of supplies for astronauts at the International Space Station such as science experiments, food and a Lavazza espresso machine especially developed for space. It is slated to arrive at the International Space Station Friday.
The mission is also the third time SpaceX has attempted an historic rocket recycling test.
The first try barely missed its target while the second attempt in inclement weather led to a fiery crash landing.
Having the ability to recycle rockets is something SpaceX founder Elon Musk said will “revolutionize access to space.”
“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred,” he said.
The Falcon 9 reusable rocket demonstrated in a test flight last year how it is supposed to perform. Video showed the rocket blasting off from the SpaceX test facility and soaring to 1,000 meters before coming back down to Earth for a controlled landing.
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