IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration
SpaceX rocket successfully lands on ocean drone platform for first time
• https://www.theguardian.com, Alan YuhasSpaceX landed a reusable rocket on a robotic drone on Friday, its fifth attempt and a historic achievement in a budding space race between billionaires to revolutionize spaceflight.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off with a Dragon cargo capsule at 4.43pm ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida, under clear conditions.
SpaceX employees gathered around the company's Mission Control in Hawthorne, California, cheered wildly and chanted "USA" after the booster touched down on the barge off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Previous barge attempts had failed.
The private spaceflight company, which has shuttled cargo to the International Space Station and satellites into orbit since 2012, set off to deliver 7,000lb of supplies and a habitat experiment to the station – an inflatable room for astronauts.