SpaceX rocket tries to land vertically, then explodes in new video | Mashable
91A new video released by SpaceX Thursday shows one of its rocket stages flying down from the sky to attempt to land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
While the landing, which took place on April 14, wasn't exactly successful, the rocket stage did make it to the barge before blowing up. The video is shot from an airborne tracking camera that picked up the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket as it came in for its landing after delivering a capsule to outer space.
The video also clearly shows the Falcon 9's landing legs deploying just before it touches down and tips over on the drone ship. The rocket didn't stick the landing because a valve stopped responding to commands, SpaceX has said, making the engine continue firing longer than it should have.
SpaceX — which was founded by Elon Musk — has big plans to create a fleet of reusable rockets in order to reduce the cost of flying to space, potentially opening up access to space for many more nations and people around the globe.
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