With the successful blast off of the CRS-5 mission, it seems third try was a charm. At least the whole getting-the-Dragon-full-of-space-station-supplies-up-out-of-earth’s-atmosphere part was. The other part – the reason why we were awake at an ungodly hour this morning – the landing of the first stage rocket on a drone ship in the middle of the ocean was less so.
Apparently it was close. Close enough to cause some damage to the barge, so that’s pretty encouraging. Elon had previously put their chances at an optimistic fifty percent. And for sure he didn’t seem disheartened in a trio of tweets he sent out to update the curious. Tweeted he,
Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
Didn’t get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and … actual pieces. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
If you were smart enough to stay in bed this morning, you can relive the moment of lift off – really the most exciting part of the festivities this time – by watching the video waiting for you just below.
Get Social: