SpaceX is currently gearing up for its next launch attempt on Feb. 24, more than a month since its latest landing failure. This time, the aerospace manufacturer will be working together with satellite operator SES for a shot at a successful water landing.
On this fourth barge landing attempt, the SpaceX rocket is expected to shuttle the new SES-9 satellite into orbit 35,000 km (21,747 miles) above the equator. The back-up date for the launch is Feb. 25.
The SES-9 satellite will serve as "both replacement and incremental capacity for a prime video neighborhood over Asia," where more than 22 million households depend on high quality broadcast solutions.
The SpaceX rocket's previous landing attempt on Jan. 17 almost went smoothly, but several factors caused the rocket to tip over. Still, it was considered as a half-success as the Jason-3 satellite was blasted off into orbit as planned.
Now, as we wait for the new launch date to draw nearer, we can only wonder whether the landing attempt will go well this time or flop again.
How The Landing Attempt Is Expected To Occur
The Falcon 9 rocket will expend nearly all of its fuel to reach the orbit.
There will probably be no time to get the rocket back to its original launch spot, and so the sea landing is the only option.
The Falcon 9 is expected to perform landing on an autonomous drone ship.
Will The Falcon 9 Rocket Finally Make History?
It is wise to think about the possible things that might go wrong as the Falcon 9 go for its fourth barge landing. To understand that, we must rewind and look over what occurred during its previous landing attempts.
As the Falcon 9 was on its way to the landing barge on Jan. 17, it had descended softly and upright, but that did not go smoothly.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the Falcon 9's touchdown speed was OK, but one of the four landing legs did not lock in place. Thus, the rocket tipped over.
Musk said it was difficult to land a rocket on a ship at sea. Landing on the sea was similar to touching down on land: there is lesser landing area. At the same time, the landing area is rotating and translating as the rocket moves down.
If the landing conditions were typically difficult, how come one of the landing legs failed to lock sturdily?
"Root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff," explained Musk.
The Falcon 9's failed landing on Jan. 17 was not the first. In January 2015, the SpaceX rocket was tasked to blast off the CRS-5 into orbit. The launch was flawless, but the rocket's landing was not.
According to Musk, the rocket made it to the drone spaceport ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean some 200 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, but it landed hard. The Falcon 9 crash landed into the 300 x 70 feet landing area after descending from a 150-mile altitude.
Amid its history of failed attempts, will the Falcon 9 finally get it right this time? Now we know that its primary "enemies" are weather conditions, unsteady landing settings, and getting the appropriate touchdown speed.
With high hopes, if the Falcon 9 could find a way to land gracefully, then SpaceX could finally mark the successful landing day as part of history.
Photo : SpaceX | Flickr
