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Video: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Completes Historic Ground Landing
SpaceX on Monday launched its historic Falcon 9 rocket in order to shuttle a number of communication satellites into space. It successfully made an "unprecedented soft landing" at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
"The Falcon has landed!" cheered the victorious SpaceX staff who were monitoring the rocket's ground landing, the Universe Today reported.
It was a historic and incredible feat. It enables SpaceX to reuse the 156-foot tall first stage of the rocket. Achieving the reusable rocket has made space travel much cheaper and more viable.
A previous Falcon rocket launched by SpaceX exploded last June. The current landing has affirmed the position of SpaceX in space flight industry after many attempts at landing failed. Many weeks ago, Blue Origin announced that it had completed an upright ground landing with its Shepard rocket. However, SpaceX overtook Blue Origin, when Falcon 9 delivered its payload into orbit before it landed, while Blue Origin "managed a suborbital flight" before landing.
Moreover, SpaceX's booster was shooting towards the earth much faster, leading to a more difficult and trickier landing, according to Wired.
"The Falcon 9 rocket we are about to launch has higher performance than the prior version due mostly to increased boost thrust, deep cryo oxidizer and a much larger upper stage engine bell," Elon Musk, SpaceX founder, said prior to Falcon's launch. "It also has a number of reliability enhancements, such as a redundant stage separation system and greater structural safety margins."
YouTube/SpaceX
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