Today is a day that will go down in history.
Full video clip HERE (https://youtu.be/7pUAydjne5M)
See the landing HERE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pUAydjne5M&feature=youtu.be&t=35m48s)
See the full story HERE (http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/8/11392138/spacex-landing-success-falcon-9-rocket-barge-at-sea)
The first stage looks wild returning that fast and on quite a bit of an angle. :shock
Amazing but I still do not understand why they want to land on a small floating platform when they can land it anywhere. ??? Why add complexity?
Raining here.
:greet
I think it's a shorter trip launching and returning the rocket from the equator. I suspect the equator launch will come later.
In December I think they landed it on land. It all has to do with the entry back from space where.
I found this
Quote
Some say that the barge would be much farther from the launch site and would allow the first stage to follow a mostly unpowered ballistic trajectory with some correction. However, it doesn't -- it has a boostback burn. This is because ultimately SpaceX wants to RTLS. Thus, they want to test a full, reversing boostback burn -- but can't for safety reasons. The difference between this partial reversing burn and a full burn are, relative to the entire first stage prop budget, small.
Still not sure but safety would be a concern with it falling on populated area.
A follow up to this - Space-X successfully launched a previously-used rocket! A first.
They also recovered a $6 million nose fairing for the first time.
This is the sound of people who love their job. (something I'll never know)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsZSXav4wI8
Pretty impressive to watch the countdown and launch. :crazy (From about 17min)