After several agonising failures, SpaceX finally managed to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a ship.
The company achieved the feat during a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday afternoon, landing the rocket on a drone-ship.
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It wasn’t a piece of cake either, as visibly choppy seas made for quite a hair-raising landing.
SpaceX and NASA were quick to share astounding footage of the moment.
Onboard view of landing in high winds pic.twitter.com/FedRzjYYyQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 9, 2016
Congrats to the @SpaceX team & @ElonMusk! Way to stick the landing & send #Dragon to @Space_Station. https://t.co/TCJCQljJBZ
— NASA (@NASA) April 8, 2016
4K footage from chase plane https://t.co/ZtdZHadUos
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 9, 2016
The landing isn’t the only tense part of this mission, as ISS astronauts snagged the Dragon space capsule several hours later.
Final Approach for @SpaceXDragon before an awesome capture by crewmate @Astro_TimPeake! @Space_Station @csa_asc pic.twitter.com/21kgmsiltX
— Tim Kopra (@astro_tim) April 10, 2016
SpaceX-8 over #Africa coming in for the approach. @SpaceX @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/NMx6bvHlTN
— Tim Kopra (@astro_tim) April 10, 2016
Capture confirmed 7:23a ET/11:23a UTC. @SpaceX #Dragon in grips of @CSA_ASC #Canadarm2. https://t.co/35O2hEgwoB
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) April 10, 2016
Now that @SpaceX‘s #Dragon is at @Space_Station, a record tying 6 vehicles are now there: https://t.co/pSpfuovRSH pic.twitter.com/wbjyBGQi1P
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2016
There were a few offbeat (and one NSFW) reactions to the historic landing as well.
So Elon tweeted this video and then deleted it. NSFW, but awesome. You know it’s party time for the rocket kids.https://t.co/r3rJzCnOan
— Eric Berger (@SciGuySpace) April 9, 2016
.@elonmusk when do pre-orders start for the $35,000 SpaceX rocket?
— Aaron Levie (@levie) April 9, 2016
Apparently some billionaires prefer to spend money on advancing science and technology instead of idiotic walls. #SpaceX
— imfabulous (@imfabulous13) April 9, 2016
Dear SpaceX,
Please build a Death Star.
Sincerely,
Lord Vader
— Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) April 8, 2016
Prominent people, including US President Barack Obama, also congratulated SpaceX.
Congrats SpaceX on landing a rocket at sea. It’s because of innovators like you & NASA that America continues to lead in space exploration.
— President Obama (@POTUS) April 8, 2016
A big congratulations to @SpaceX for today’s incredible landing! https://t.co/DU0mJtcIhz #SpaceX
— Adam Savage (@donttrythis) April 8, 2016
Landed! That is amazing! World-leading ability, proven. Opens the imagination to what is possible. Congrats @SpaceX pic.twitter.com/iSZJAUQ5jj
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) April 8, 2016
Congratulations to @elonmusk and @SpaceX
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) April 8, 2016
Featured image: SpaceX via Flickr
