For the first time ever, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fails to stick a ground landing
A successful Falcon 9 landing during SpaceX’s 13th cargo resupply mission in December 2017” src=”https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q39MphTn5ficY1fCcLpBa05Ycu4=/0x0:3000×2000/1310×873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62631375/39051469552_13703e6b2e_o.0.jpg”>
For the first time since SpaceX began recovering its Falcon 9 fleet, the company failed to land one of its rockets that was meant to touch down on solid ground. Just seven minutes after launching from Florida this afternoon, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was preparing to land on the company’s concrete landing pad back near the launch site at Cape Canaveral. But footage from the booster showed it spinning out of control, and SpaceX commentators confirmed that the vehicle hit the Atlantic Ocean instead.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blamed the failure on one of the Falcon 9’s grid fins, which are used to steer the booster to its intended landing target. That may explain the spin, which you can see in more detail here. Musk says it’s possible that SpaceX…
