Space

Falcon 9 nails barge landing as Dragon returns to space

Falcon 9 nails barge landing as Dragon returns to space
A Falcon 9 booster made the first post-mission powered landing on a sea barge
A Falcon 9 booster made the first post-mission powered landing on a sea barge
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CRS-8 lifting off
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CRS-8 lifting off
CRS-8 is the 10th Dragon flight
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CRS-8 is the 10th Dragon flight
CRS-8 with lightning arrestors
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CRS-8 with lightning arrestors
CRS-8 is carrying the Bigelow inflatable space habitat
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CRS-8 is carrying the Bigelow inflatable space habitat
CRS-8 rolling out
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CRS-8 rolling out
CRS-8 upright
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CRS-8 upright
CRS-8 on the launch pad
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CRS-8 on the launch pad
CRS-8 fuelling
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CRS-8 fuelling
The Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 booster
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The Dragon spacecraft atop the Falcon 9 booster
The Falcon 9 booster making the first successful sea-barge landing
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The Falcon 9 booster making the first successful sea-barge landing
Falcon 9 on the deck of the drone barge
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Falcon 9 on the deck of the drone barge
A Falcon 9 booster made the first post-mission powered landing on a sea barge
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A Falcon 9 booster made the first post-mission powered landing on a sea barge
View gallery - 12 images

SpaceX scored a double first today as the Dragon spacecraft returned to service and the Falcon 9 booster nailed the first ever powered landing at sea. At 4:43 pm EDT, the CRS-8 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 40 in Florida for the International Space Station (ISS). After delivering the unmanned cargo ship into orbit, the Falcon 9 first stage rocket made a safe touchdown on the drone barge "Of Course I Still Love You" stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

According to SpaceX, the launch of the Dragon and deployment of its solar panels occurred without incident. Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 first stage, instead of crashing into the ocean, re-oriented itself and executed a "boostback" burn to kill its suborbital hypersonic velocity, followed by a re-entry burn three minutes later to further slow it down.

As it re-entered the atmosphere, a set of vanes deployed on the top of the booster and acted as rudders to guide the rocket down. Approaching the barge, the engines fired for a final time before touching down as aircraft returned video of the landing.

CRS-8 lifting off
CRS-8 lifting off

Today's launch marks the first flight of the Dragon capsule since the CRS-7 mission in 2015, which ended in an aerial fireball when a faulty strut in the second stage destroyed the launcher and spacecraft. It's the tenth flight of the Dragon to the ISS and the eighth of 20 commercial missions running through 2024 by the cargo ship to the space station.

According to SpaceX, Dragon will spend the next two days matching orbits with the station until about 7:00 am EDT on Sunday, when the ISS crew will use one of the station's robotic arms to capture the capsule and guide it to a docking port on the Tranquility module. It will remain for about a month before it returns to Earth with a second cargo of science samples.

Falcon 9 on the deck of the drone barge
Falcon 9 on the deck of the drone barge

When the Dragon arrives, the ISS will be a bit crowded with a total of six cargo and passenger spacecraft docked. In addition, this will also be the first time that a Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft will be visiting the station at the same time.

The Dragon capsule is loaded with 6,900 lb (3,130 kg) of cargo, including the 3,100 lb (1.406 kg) Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is an experimental inflatable habitat module. This is carried in Dragon's unpressurised cargo bay and will be moved by the robotic arm to a berth, where it will remain for two years as its structural stability, leak rate, and ability to withstand radiation and temperature variations are evaluated.

Source: SpaceX

View gallery - 12 images
4 comments
4 comments
Racqia Dvorak
This is so amazing to me, that they did this on water at all.
I bet they're pretty good at Kerbal Space Program, too.
MattII
Okay, that is awesome, long live Elon Musk, long live SpaceX.
Gizmowiz
They didn't nail it--if they did they missile would have landed in the yellow circle! In fact if they were another 30-40 feet to one side they would have landed one leg in the ocean and bye bye missile to Davy Jones locker!
ikarus342000
When you see the sea state with the big waves, being a bit out of the yellow circle is not important. Great landing and that the rocket can stand with the high CE, congratulations