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SpaceX to attempt daring rocket landing…again
Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
It looks like SpaceX will make another attempt at landing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. This follows the launch of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, according to various media reports.
Its last attempt to pull of the maneuver took place in January, and while the booster was able to reach the drone spaceport ship, it landed too hard and was damaged in the process. The firm is hoping to improve upon those results following this ISS cargo resupply mission.
Try, try again
During the previous attempt, the Falcon 9 booster rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, jettisoned the Dragon capsule, and made its way back to Earth. It was attempting to land on a barge located in the waters 200 miles east of Jacksonville.
The 70-foot wide, 14-story tall rocket reached the platform, which was 300 feet across and 100 feet wide, but the fins lost power. The engines tried and failed to restore the rocket to its proper landing angle, causing it to come in hard and at a 45-degree angle. The impact caused damage to the engine section and legs, and residual fuel triggered an explosion.
On Monday, SpaceX will try again as the Falcon 9 and Dragon cargo capsule are scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral at 4:33pm EDT, and according to Space.com, CEO Elon Musk said that the hypersonic grid fins will have additional hydraulic fuel this time around, meaning that the stabilizers should not run out and suffer another failure.
Don’t forget about the ISS resupply mission
While the company’s progress towards developing fully reusable rockets to reduce the cost of space travel is garnering all the headlines, the primary mission for Monday’s launch is to deliver Dragon and its 4,387 points of food, supplies, and experiments to the orbiting laboratory.
This is the sixth of 12 scheduled cargo missions under SpaceX’s $1.6 billion dollar contract with NASA, according to reports. Dragon is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Wednesday, where it will spend five weeks before returning to Earth with over 3,000 pounds of equipment and refuse. It will land in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovery crews will retrieve it.
Florida Today reports that there is a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for the launch.
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Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113369571/spacex-to-attempt-rocket-landing-again-on-monday-041215/
