A Historical Launch and Landing!
I just watched the launch and landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. This is the first launch of a dragon capsule which is headed to the ISS since the unfortunate explosion last summer. This is great news for the US space program as well as for our mission. There is now just one more launch before our launch which is still currently scheduled for this August.
Dragon will be docking at the ISS in a couple of days, but while Dragon continued toward the ISS, the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket landed successfully on a drone ship. This historical recovery of the first stage of a rocket is a first step toward reducing spaceflight associated launch expenses in the future.
Congratulations NASA and SpaceX on a successful launch and landing today! Certainly a day to remember in spaceflight history!
To view the launch you can click on the following link: http://www.spacex.com/webcast
Image courtesy of http://www.spacex.com/media-gallery/detail/128251/5056
Written by Melissa Kacena
