Space X lost another spacecraft when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded after liftoff over the weekend, destroying a capsule destined for the International Space Station. The accident demolished thousands of pounds of goods headed to astronauts aboard the orbiting outpost.
The International Space Station is normally equipped with six months of supplies, but this latest mishap reduces the space travelers to just four months of food and other necessities for survival in orbit. With current supplies, the three people aboard the orbiting outpost will run out of the basic needs of life at the end of October. A Russian resupply vehicle, scheduled for launch on July 3, will bring an additional 30 days worth of water and food to the space travelers.
"The Expedition 44 trio will not see the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrive Tuesday after the Falcon 9 rocket was lost about 139 seconds after launch Sunday morning. The crew now turns its attention to another resupply mission, ongoing science activities and routine orbital maintenance," NASA reported in a briefing on the explosion.
The Dragon spacecraft was packed with two tons of supplies, including 250 experiments for the residents of the ISS. One experiment, known as Group Combustion, would have studied the actions of fire in microgravity. The chemical makeup of meteors would have also been examined, along with cancer research. More than 30 student experiments were also lost in the blast.
Also included were photo and television equipment, life support systems, and a pair of holographic glasses. These devices could, theoretically, offer mission controllers on the ground the ability to upload live 3D images to astronauts carrying out experiments, maintenance or repairs on the space station.
The explosion ripped the vehicle apart 139 seconds into the flight. The accident was soon confirmed by NASA, after the event was witnessed by viewers watching the live feed. Social media was soon buzzing with stories of the demise of the craft.
FAILURE!!! Falcon 9 FAILES!! Noooo! pic.twitter.com/k1nhqkSTHH
— Chris B - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) June 28, 2015
NASA officials are reassuring the public that even if schedules for deliveries to the ISS need to be reshuffled in light of the latest accident, there is no immediate danger to the current crew members of the ISS.
This mishap is the third explosion in three test flights for the Falcon 9 rocket booster. The first stage of these rockets is designed to land vertically back on Earth, following each flight. During the first two tests of the vehicle, the bottom stage was destroyed on landing, although the payload was delivered successfully. This was the first one of these craft to explode before reaching space. This is the third resupply mission to the ISS to fail in the last eight months.
