The Monday launch carried almost 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) of food and scientific equipment for the International Space Station (ISS), including a first ever DNA sequencer to be sent into space.
Advertisement
As well as the successful take-off, SpaceX was also celebrating after bringing its leftover first-stage booster back to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for a vertical touchdown – only the second such land landing for an orbital mission and the ultimate in recycling. It was the second time SpaceX has successfully brought a Falcon 9 back to land. Landing on ocean-going platforms significantly reduces the amount of fuel used, which in turn further decreases the cost of their missions in space.
The company has had a tough time over the a year ago or so, since its first attempt to get the docking port up into space landed in failure when a rocket blew up.
Follow Science Focus on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Crew members on board the ISS will use the station’s 57.7-foot (17.6-meter) Canadarm2 to reach and capture the Dragon Capsule and dock it to the station upon arrival.
“LZ1, Falcon 9 has landed”, a commentator on SpaceX’s YouTube channel said.
The International Docking Adapter (IDA) will allow spacecraft systems to automatically perform all the steps of rendezvous and dock with the station without input from the astronauts, with manual back-up systems available if needed.
“A really good day”, observed Hans Koenigsmann, vice-president of flight reliability for SpaceX.
The boom many heard at about 12:50 a.m. was the latest SpaceX launch’s first-stage Falcon 9 booster rocket returning to earth.
The space package is expected to arrive on the ISS on Wednesday, July 20. “Everything, from the science to the spare hardware and crew supplies, is vital for sustaining our mission”, Kirk Shireman, NASA’s International Space Station Program manager stated in a news release issued by NASA. Such trajectories require greater speed and travel too fast for the rocket to turn around and return to the launch base, so for those missions SpaceX will target booster landings on a barge positioned several hundred miles offshore.
Advertisement
The time for SpaceX to finally test its reusable rocket technology is quickly approaching.
