SpaceX's bold effort to recover a reusable rocket may have been unsuccessful, but the company's founder believes that this paved the way in laying the foundation of reusable rockets in the years to come.
The space transport company tried to recover the rocket used in launching the Dragon cargo capsule-- the Falcon 9-- by a re-enter through the ocean. However, according to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the ocean splashdown might not be successful.
"I heard reports of 13- to 20-foot wave heights. It's really pretty crazy out there," Musk stated during a post launch press conference, as quoted by Space.com. "In fact, the [retrieval] boats weren't able to get close because of the heavy seas. It's unlikely that the rocket was able to splash down successfully."
On the other hand, Musk considers other factors of the re-enter as successful initiatives. He explained that their experiment allowed them to control the boost stage of the launch at a zero roll level; reiterating that it is the uncontrolled roll that usually destroys the rocket. The company is currently doing research and experiments that will enable them to reuse rockets and bring them back to Earth. Reusable rockets may make spaceflights a lot cheaper since most of the fund goes to developing and fuelling the rockets.
SpaceX's reusability test started by controlling the roll until they eventually used stronger thrusters to overcome the extensive rolling of the rocket. The Falcon 9 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere successfully but it was the ocean splashdown that may have gone wrong. However, they were able to confirm that they can now control the rolling and the legs that they have attached to Falcon 9 helped in the re-entry of the rocket.
Meanwhile, the Dragon spacecraft, which is headed towards the International Space Station, is going through its course as planned. The cargo spacecraft will reach the space station on April 20 and its live docking will be aired on NASA TV.
