SpaceX launches for NASA, no luck with rocket landing at sea
SpaceX delivering items to International Space Station
The SpaceX company has successfully launched another fresh load of supplies to the International Space Station. But its revolutionary attempt to land the leftover booster
SpaceX launches for NASA, no luck with rocket landing at sea
SpaceX delivering items to International Space Station
The SpaceX company has successfully launched another fresh load of supplies to the International Space Station. But its revolutionary attempt to land the leftover booster on an ocean barge did not fare as well.
SpaceX’s billionaire founder Elon Musk says the first stage of the unmanned Falcon rocket made it to the platform floating a couple hundred miles off Florida's northeastern coast. But he says the booster came down too hard and broke apart.
It's the first time anyone tried anything like this.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is hoping the public-private partnership continues to grow.
He wrote, "We look forward to extending our efforts in commercial space to include commercial crew by 2017 and to more significant milestones this year on our journey to Mars."
One instrument aboard the Dragon is called a Cloud-Aerosol Transport System. NASA said it measures pollution and aerosols in the atmosphere, providing a more-detailed glimpse on how Earth's climate is changing.
Fruit flies and flatworms are also on board for experiments. It's been months since the space station received supplies. A re-supply launch in October failed when an unmanned spacecraft exploded over Virginia.
This time around, astronaut Butch Wilmore is prepared to use the space station's robotic arm to grab and secure the Dragon early Monday.