IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration
SpaceX Launch Successful, But Drone Ship Landing Fails
• popsci.comSpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the rocket was on target for a perfect landing, but a landing leg failed to lock and the thing toppled over. So close!
Update, 2:41pm
After a second burn of the rocket's second stage, the Jason-3 satellite is now in the correct orbit and SpaceX is calling it a mission success.
Update, 2:10pm
Preliminary data suggests the Falcon 9 rocket stage came down on target, but one of the landing legs collapsed when it reached the drone ship, so the rocket booster is not standing upright, according to the SpaceX webcast. Engineers are still analyzing the data, and we hope to see some video later today.
Update, 2:02pm
SpaceX says its webcast will return in about 40 minutes. Hopefully by then we'll know how the landing attempt went. The Jason3 satellite appears to be safely on its way to orbit 800 miles over the Earth.