SpaceX Lands Orbital Booster Rocker For The First Time (December 22, 2015)

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
We once again interrupt our regularly scheduled Wing Commander programming to share some phenomenal news. Last night SpaceX managed to successfully land a rocket vertically after it delivered a commercial payload in orbit. Such a feat is so common in science fiction that it wouldn't be surprising if the average person just assumed we could already do this, but in fact this type of landing has never been done before. It was only last month that Blue Origin managed to land a rocket after briefly touching the boundary of space. This week's achievement is significantly more complex due to the nature of the spacecraft in play. The Falcon rocket had to reach orbital velocity/altitude, and then it flawlessly performed its primary mission of deploying 11 communications satellites before coming back down. The hovering booster looks cool enough, but my favorite shot might be the time lapse photo showing the orange double-streak from both ascent and decent. One of the things that draws in and captivates sci-fi fans is the excitement of scenes like these. It's even better when we get to see the real thing become possible!










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Original update published on December 22, 2015
 
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I was one of the lucky few who caught a news feed live. Glad to see this success after the failed landings at sea.
 
This is an absolutely incredible achievement. I just keep watching that helicopter footage over and over...
 
I think that SpaceX is making the right choice about which pieces of the launcher need to be reusable. The first stage is 3/4 of the launcher's mass and doesn't need to travel fast enough to require heavy-duty reentry shielding. The orbital capsule (Dragon) contains the fancy computers, etc., and is designed for reentry anyway, so that can be reused as well. It's the second stage that should be the most-expendable part, since it would have to survive the worst reentry stresses and would cost the most payload penalty to give heat shielding and structural reinforcement to.
 
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