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SpaceX Lands Falcon 9 Rocket At Cape Canaveral (planetary.org)

Posted by samzenpus on from the if-at-first-you-don't-succeed dept.

Rei writes: At 8:40 PM today, SpaceX successfully launched and relanded the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral, as well as delivering to orbit the last portion of ORBCOMM's communication satellite constellation. This also marks SpaceX's return to flight and the first launch of the "Full Thrust" Falcon 9 v1.1 with densified (extremely chilled) propellants. The company will now shift its efforts toward catching up on its backlog, investigating and refurbishing its landed first stage, and preparing for the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket this spring. Congratulations to everyone at SpaceX!

3 of 373 comments (clear)

  1. Solid ground landing by HairyNevus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder how much of this was due to learning from the past misses and updating to version 1.1, and how much was from deciding to land on the ground and not on a barge at sea. Hell, learning from past misses and deciding not to land on a barge might be the same thing.

    --
    You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
    1. Re:Solid ground landing by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There were some comments made about the entire barge being pushed down into the water by the force of the rocket landing.

      That said I don't think the barge was ever the target landing location. I think the barge was necessary to get regulatory approval to come in over the land. Prove you can hit your target first where you won't hurt / destroy anything then you can try it here.

  2. Re:Congratulations by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I literally cringed when I heard the USA chants... leave it to USAians to make it about them when so many from many countries worked so hard to make it a reality.

    What are you babbling about? SpaceX manufactures the entire rocket in Hawthorne, California. All of the metal bending, all of the welding, everything except a handful of chips is made in that plant. There were zero other countries involved in designing, building, launching, and performing the only first stage rocket recovery in history. Due to ITAR, all SpaceX employees are US citizens or permanent residents (green card holders). The vast majority are citizens. Even the company that paid for the launch, Orbcomm, is a US company.

    In a time when such nationalism is frowned upon, their USA chant was entirely justified. It was solely a US effort, and solely a US success.