After their historic launch and landing of the Space X Falcon 9 on solid ground last month, the latest landing (on a ship platform in the ocean) ends in failure, but only just!
Space X failed in its latest attempt to land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a landing ship in the middle of the ocean yesterday. But it was a really close call. The reason behind the landing failure was attributed to one of the rocket’s leg-locking mechanisms which caused it to tip over, resulting in a large explosion.
Elon Musk just posted a dramatic video to Instagram that shows the incident up close in footage recorded from the platform; it’s worth watching as a demonstration of just how precise the landing needs to be. Musk stated that – “Falcon lands on droneship, but the lockout collet doesn’t latch on one [of] the four legs, causing it to tip over post-landing. [The] root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff.”
Even though this racks up as another failure for SpaceX, they do seem to be making strides towards their ultimate goal. Previously they have successfully launched and landed the Falcon 9 on solid ground in a historic landing that hints at a less expensive future for commercial space flight.
Jeff Bezos, owner of Space X’s closest competitors Blue Origin, also commended the company on a good attempt – “Impressive launch and @SpaceX will soon make Falcon 9 landings routine ““ so good for space! Kudos SpaceX!”
Source: CNN
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