Sunday, January 11, 2015

SpaceX Postpones Cargo Launch, Daring Rocket Test to Saturday


SpaceX delayed its next robotic cargo launch toward the International Space Station — which also featured a bold rocket-reusability test — by another day, to early yesterday morning. The launch was supposed to happen Tuesday but was stopped before liftoff because of an issue with an actuator on the Falcon 9's second stage. The primary objective of the launch was to send the unmanned Dragon — which is loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of food, scientific experiments and spare parts — on its way to the orbiting lab. But SpaceX will also try to bring the Falcon 9's first stage back to Earth for a pinpoint landing on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. This is a bold move for them to try to include both a delivery and a experiment in one but if it is successful it will be a great stride in reusable rocket technology which will overall decrease the cost of rockets by a lot if they won't have to keep building the rockets but only having to refuel them. We will learn the success of this experiment in a month when the ship comes to earth.


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