In the previous blog post, the company SpaceX was mentioned as a prevalent researcher in the quest to make reusable rockets with the design of Falcon 9 used to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) launching the Dragon (the cargo vessel) as seen pictured here to the left. The Falcon 9 rocket was designed to be able to land after launch instead of just recyclable and land in the water or salvaged for parts after parachuting down. The Falcon 9 was launched on April 15 2015 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA. It was the third attempt of the Falcon 9 rocket design with the first two having near misses, the second attempt in January landed on land hard causing damage to the interior so it wasn't a success. The third and most recent attempt was landing the Falcon 9 on a drone ship barge so as to minimize the risk and increase control over the area targeted to land on. The Falcon 9 was launched without any hiccups and released the Dragon towards the ISS after performing perfectly on the way up. It descended towards the barge in control but at the last second after it had deployed its landing legs the throttle valve response was detected to be slower than usual according to Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX.
It is hypothesized that this is what caused the rocket its instability and it was not able to recover using the Altitude Control Thrust System in time for an upright landing. Instead it crashed onto the barge taking it with it in a fiery blaze. Also according to Elon Musk the "excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over" and not land on the ship as planned.
Although this was not a successful, SpaceX has been the closest agency so far to create a predictable reliable rocket that could be reused and relaunched without as much cost to the company or the environment. Sustainability is the key to furthering space exploration and hopefully SpaceX can continue leading the way.
Bergin, Chris.(April 19, 2015). Fine-tuning Falcon 9 Landing Focuses on Throttle Valve Response. NASA Space Flight.
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/04/fine-tuning-falcon-9-landing-throttle-valve-response/
Liftoff: Falcon 9 and Dragon Begin CRS-6 Mission to Resupply the Space Station, April 14. 2015. http://www.spacex.com/news/2015/04/14/liftoff-falcon-9-and-dragon-begin-crs-6-mission-resupply-international-space-station
Mills, Kyle. (April 19, 2015). SpaceX Explained Falcon 9 Landing Failure.
http://www.thesilverink.com/spacex-explained-the-falcon-9-landing-failure/22498/
When is space X launching a new rocket? Is Space X funded through public funds or by generous donations?
ReplyDeleteI havent really followed SpaceX's progress in space exploration, but they use interesting and important concepts and ideas in their projects. I wonder how big of an investment was necessary for this company to begin. Space exploration must be incredibly expensive, not only for the materials but also for the human resources, since it involves hundreds of experts.
ReplyDeleteDo you think state agencies like NASA fear a serious competition with private companies like SpaceX?