SpaceX rocket booster makes breakthrough landing at sea   
   By Irene Klotz   
       
   April 8, 2016   
       
   CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from   
   Florida on a cargo run for the International Space Station on Friday and its   
   reusable main-stage booster landed itself on an ocean platform in a dramatic   
   spaceflight first.   
       
   The liftoff at 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT) from Cape Canaveral marked the   
   resumption of resupply flights by privately owned Space Exploration   
   Technologies for NASA following a launch accident in June 2015 that destroyed   
   a different cargo payload for the space station.   
       
   About 2-1/2 minutes after Friday's launch, the main part of the 23-story tall,   
   two-stage SpaceX rocket separated, turned around and headed toward a landing   
   platform floating in the Atlantic about 185 miles (300 km) northeast of Cape   
   Canaveral.   
       
   A live video feed broadcast on NASA television showed the rocket booster, its   
   four landing legs extended, descending over the ocean before settling itself   
   upright on the platform, roughly eight minutes after launch.   
       
   "We have a Falcon 9 onboard," a crewman on a nearby recovery vessel radioed to   
   SpaceX mission control.   
       
   [This is a sight to see]   
       
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPGUQySBikQ   
       
   Four previous at-sea landing attempts had failed. But a Falcon 9 main-stage   
   rocket achieved a successful ground-based touchdown in December, the first   
   ever during an actual commercial space mission. Friday's feat marked yet   
   another major milestone in the quest by high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk,   
   founder and chief executive of the private launch service, to develop a cheap,   
   reusable launch vehicle.   
       
   "Looking forward to delivering the goods for you," Musk wrote in a Tweet to   
   the U.S. space agency after the launch.   
       
   The rocket's cargo ship, dubbed Dragon, was due to arrive on Sunday at the   
   International Space Station, the $100 billion laboratory flying about 250   
   miles (400 km) above Earth.   
       
   The delivery vehicle was packed with about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) of food,   
   supplies and science experiments, including a prototype inflatable habitat,   
   bound for the orbital outpost.   
       
   About a week after Dragon's arrival, ground controllers will use a robot arm   
   on the space station to pull the 3,100-pound (1,400 kg) Bigelow Expandable   
   Activity Module, or BEAM, from the capsule's trunk and attach it to a berthing   
   port.   
       
   Built by Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, the lightweight fabric habitat will   
   be tested to see how it compares with more traditional orbiting enclosures   
   made from metal.   
       
   Roughly a month after its arrival, astronauts aboard the space station will   
   inflate BEAM with pressurized air, increasing its volume to about the size of   
   a small bedroom.   
       
   Bigelow Aerospace, owned and operated by real estate billionaire Robert   
   Bigelow, plans to follow BEAM with modules 20 times larger to serve as   
   free-flying orbital outposts leased to companies and research groups.   
       
   NASA is interested in expandable habitats to serve as crew living quarters   
   during three-year trips to and from Mars.   
       
   BEAM's test run is intended to determine how well it withstands the   
   temperature swings and high-radiation environment of space. The module, made   
   of layers of fabric and covered in a flexible, Kevlar-like material, also will   
   be outfitted with sensors to monitor orbital debris and micrometeoroid impacts.   
       
   (Reporting by Irene Klotz from Cape Canaveral; Editing by Steve Gorman and Tom   
   Brown)   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + Windows 10   
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