SpaceX successfully completed its sixth resupply mission to the International Space Station Tuesday, followed shortly by a second unsuccessful attempt to land its Falcon 9 rocket for reuse.
Chief executive officer Elon Musk tweeted a video of the attempted landing late Tuesday night after reporting that the rocket had successfully landed on the company’s drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, but tipped over as a result of its speed of descent. The resulting impact rendered the rocket unusable.
Looks like Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing pic.twitter.com/eJWzN6KSJa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2015
SpaceX made its first try following a resupply mission in January. During that attempt the rocket made it to the platform but ran out of hydraulic fluid for its hypersonic grid fins, which steer the rocket down. The bad angle of approach caused the rocket to crash on the deck and explode. (VIDEO: Watch SpaceX’s First Attempt To Land A Rocket After Launch)
Rough seas and drone ship repairs prevented another attempt in February, but the additional hydraulic fluid afforded the rocket a smoother descent and hover before falling into the ocean.
SpaceX previously stated the chances of a successful landing were only 50 percent, but with more launches scheduled for 2015, that figure could get to 80 percent by the end of the year. According to Musk, the data gleaned from these initial attempts will help the company achieve the long-term goal of routinely landing and reusing a rocket’s first stage. (RELATED: SpaceX Outlines First Reusable Rocket Landing Mission)
Achieving a reusable platform is key to reducing the high cost of spaceflight, which Musk once likened to throwing away a new 747 after one flight to London. According to SpaceX, building a single Falcon 9 rocket costs $54 million, but the liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene fuel for each mission only costs $200,000. Reusing the first stage could reduce that cost by orders of magnitude, according to Musk, and make affordable spaceflight endeavors including space tourism and repeat trips to Mars.
For astronauts aboard the ISS, SpaceX’s mission brought more good news in the form of the station’s first espresso machine, custom designed to function in zero gravity. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka will undoubtedly make full use of the “ISSpresso” during their year-long mission in space — NASA’s longest in history — which began last month. (RELATED: Astronauts Embark On Year-Long Mission To The ISS)