Y-Body
12-22-2015, 12:52am
SpaceX Falcon 9 Lands (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-22/musk-s-spacex-returns-to-space-in-first-launch-since-june-blast)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX showcased his dream of reusable spacecraft by making a Falcon 9 booster the first piece of an orbital rocket to land back on Earth, minutes after lofting satellites toward orbit.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. pulled off the soft, vertical touchdown after the two-stage rocket propelled its payload of 11 Orbcomm Inc. satellites aloft. It was the company’s first flight since a fiery blast destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket in June, minutes after lift off.
...
Using rocket propulsion, SpaceX guided the stage to a slow, controlled stop at Landing Zone 1, a former U.S. Air Force rocket and missile testing range last used in 1978 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Musk’s rocket is equipped with small, foldable heat-resistant wings, called grid fins, for steering as it plunges to Earth at four times the speed of sound. As it approaches touchdown, lightweight landing legs deploy.
...
Elon Musk’s SpaceX showcased his dream of reusable spacecraft by making a Falcon 9 booster the first piece of an orbital rocket to land back on Earth, minutes after lofting satellites toward orbit.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. pulled off the soft, vertical touchdown after the two-stage rocket propelled its payload of 11 Orbcomm Inc. satellites aloft. It was the company’s first flight since a fiery blast destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket in June, minutes after lift off.
...
Using rocket propulsion, SpaceX guided the stage to a slow, controlled stop at Landing Zone 1, a former U.S. Air Force rocket and missile testing range last used in 1978 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Musk’s rocket is equipped with small, foldable heat-resistant wings, called grid fins, for steering as it plunges to Earth at four times the speed of sound. As it approaches touchdown, lightweight landing legs deploy.
...