SpaceX's third attempt at landing a rocket from space on a drone landing pad floating 200 miles west of San Diego waters still failed because one of the rocket's legs failed to latch, causing the rocket to topple over.
Elon Musk Tweeted about the failed landing attempt:
The first part of the launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Sunday, was to send into space the Jason-3 satellite, which has the tasks of circling the Earth from orbit to orbit in order to measure global sea levels. However, people were more interested in the attempt to land the Falcon 9 rocket on a sea barge after it gave the satellite the boost needed to reach space, according to CNet.
SpaceX has already made space flight history as the first to successfully land a rocket on land after it sent out a satellite to space, as previously reported by HNGN. If SpaceX someday successfully lands its rocket on sea with the help of its drone barge, it would again be the first in history.
Beyond contributing to the list of historic firsts, SpaceX is aggressive about achieving successful rocket landings as it aims to reduce launch costs by making rockets reusable, instead of just letting them explode and scatter over the ocean floors, the Associated Press reported.
