Falcon 9 to attempt water landing Friday

[Merc14]

Good luck SpaceX

SpaceX will attempt to land a Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform: A huge step towards cheap space travel

• By Sebastian Anthony on December 17, 2014 at 8:56 a
  

On Friday, December 19, SpaceX will attempt one of the most exciting maneuvers in the entire history of space travel: The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket will try to land on a giant platform in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Falcon 9 rocket, after launching a Dragon capsule into space (it’s heading to the International Space Station), will attempt a controlled descent back to Earth. Usually, the first stage just falls into the ocean, never to be used again; in this case, if the soft landing is successful, the rocket can be reused, massively cutting the cost of space launches.

At first glance, the mission — CRS-5, SpaceX’s fifth resupply mission to the International Space Station — is just a standard launch. Look closely, though, and you’ll see that the Falcon 9 rocket is slightly different: There are four hypersonic grid fins placed around the top of the first stage. These fins will be stowed during ascent, but after separation from the second stage, as the rocket begins to fall back to Earth, they will pop out and provide precision control of the rocket’s roll, pitch, and yaw.

Article continues:

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/196070-spacex-will-attempt-to-land-a-falcon-9-rocket-on-an-ocean-platform-a-huge-step-towards-cheap-space-travel

[Waspie_Dwarf]

On Friday, December 19, SpaceX will attempt one of the most exciting maneuvers in the entire history of space travel

As we have come to expect with SpaceX the launch has been delayed by technical problems. Launch will now be no sooner than 6^th January.

[Merc14]

As we have come to expect with SpaceX the launch has been delayed by technical problems. Launch will now be no sooner than 6^th January.

I don't think they ever launch on time. Too bad, I was looking forward to it.