Today at 4:33pm EDT, SpaceX is planning to launch their Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Like previous missions to the International Space Station, their Dragon cargo capsule will re-supply astronauts onboard the Space Station with valuable food, experiments, and equipment.
Watch the launch and rocket return here! Coverage begins at 1pm Pacific with launch scheduled at 1:33pm Pacific.
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
Unlike other missions, though, after the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket has done it's job putting the second stage of the rocket into orbit, SpaceX will guide the massive first stage of the rocket back to Earth to make a soft landing on their barge named "Just Read The Instructions" (pictured below).
Here's the planned launch and re-entry strategy
If SpaceX is successful it could dramatically change the economics of spaceflight. Nearly all rocket components and systems in use today - even for manned missions - are expendable... they are used once and then never recovered and reused again. But think about flying on a jet today - it's relatively inexpensive because as a passenger you're effectively paying for gas and maintenance. Imagine having to buy a new 747 plane for every flight from NYC to LA... it becomes prohibitively expensive. By making rockets reusable, companies would similarly only have to pay for maintenance and fuel... potentially reducing the cost of spaceflight by orders of magnitude!On Sunday, SpaceX made final preparations on their engines by testing the configuration in a "static fire" to ensure that all engines were ready for the launch on Monday.
This is not the first time that SpaceX has tried to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 on their barge. In January, during their first attempt, the rocket returned to Earth safely but hit the barge a little too hard, exploding on the ship's deck. SpaceX said that the Falcon 9 stage's stabilizing aerodynamic fins ran out of hydraulic fuel, resulting in the hard landing.
Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX VP of Mission Assurance, said on Sunday (referring to the probability of a safe Falcon 9 return to Earth and landing): "I would up my probability to 75 percent at this point in time, maybe 80."Watch the launch and rocket return here! Coverage begins at 1pm Pacific with launch scheduled at 1:33pm Pacific.
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