SpaceX has failed in its latest attack to land the first stage of a rocket on a barge . But it was frustratingly close , and while the landing was not quite a achiever , the launch itself from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California passedwithout a hitch .
This was the third attempt the society has made to land the first stage of one of their Falcon 9 rocket on a barge . The previous two complete insimilarlyspectacularexplosions . While a barge landing continues to elude the company , though , they did successfully land a first stage on the groundearlier this calendar month .
On this affair , the landing attempt was made after the launching of the Jason-3 orbiter on Sunday , January 17 . And it was almost perfect . The Eruca sativa touch down within a few meters of the centre of attention of the drone ship ( appoint “ Just Read the Instructions ” after one of the spaceship in the scientific discipline fiction works of Iain M. Banks ) and appeared erect at first .
But one of the four landing legs it use to remain stable miscarry to lock in lieu , causing the projectile to tip over and , finally , explode . The problem may have been ice build - up due to heavy fog at liftoff . you’re able to see out a video of the landing place attempt below .
Falcon solid ground on droneship , but the lockout ferrule does n’t latch on one the four legs , causing it to tip over post landing place . etymon cause may have been chicken feed buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff .
A video posted by Elon Musk ( @elonmusk ) onJan 17 , 2016 at 7:07pm PST
As SpaceX CEO Elon Musk noted , the barge itself did not cause the problem . The same nonstarter on this occasion would likely have occur on the ground . “ Definitely hard to bring on a ship , ” he write onTwitter . “ alike to an aircraft carrier vs land : much pocket-sized target area , that ’s also interpret & rotate . ”
But he added : “ However , that was not what prevented it being ripe . Touchdown speed was ok , but a leg lockout did n’t latch , so it tipped over after landing . ”
If barge landings can be perfected , it opens up a raw orbit of usable capabilities for the company . Landing on the ground is good , but it means the rocket has to essentially reverse its flight and land back at where it launched .
For launch at high velocities , such as those going to a higher orbit , this is simply not possible . Using a barge permit for landing to take place during more launches , a step closer to SpaceX ’s goal of making all their rockets reclaimable .
While the landing live a slight mishap , the launching itself pass without a stoppage . On this foreign mission , SpaceX was taking the joint U.S.-European Jason-3 satellite into a near - icy electron orbit . Jason-3 will be used to monitor the global sea degree rise , working in tandem bicycle with a twin spacecraft launched in 2008 , Jason-2 . It is run by several institution including NASA , CNES , and NOAA .
“ As human - caused global heating drives ocean stage higher and high , we are literally reshaping the surface of our satellite , ” said Josh Willis , NASA project scientist for Jason-3 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , California , in astatement . “ These mission secern us how much and how fast . ”
But for now , we ’ll have to wait a short longer to see SpaceX do the first successful barge landing place .
