Elon Musk’s SpaceX managed to pull off an impressive feat of the 50th successful rocket landing. The feat was achieved when the Falcon rocket’s first-stage booster safely landed back at Cape Canaveral on Friday midnight. The Falcon rocket launched 4,300 pounds of payload consisting of equipment and experiments destined for the International Space Station.
The Dragon capsule, which is carrying the payload, is expected to reach the space station by Monday, March 9. In terms of station delivery, this is the 20th time SpaceX has delivered shipments to the orbiting space station. Musk swelled with pride as the booster was able to pull off a successful landing despite wind speeds of 25mph to 30 mph at Cape Canaveral.
As per SpaceX’s recycling policy, the booster and the Dragon capsule from the previous flights were reused. The payload consists of the following scientific experiments: Adidas’s running shoe cushioning in no gravity, water droplet study by Delta Faucet Co, 3D models of the heart and intestinal tissue, and 320 snippets of grapevines by Space Cargo Unlimited.
The Capsule also carried healthy food supplies for the American and Russian astronauts at the station. NASA confirmed they undertook the usual doctor-approved precautions while packing as it was deemed sufficient for preventing the passage of coronavirus to the space station crew.
According to SpaceX, this was its last usage of the Dragon capsules. They will be replaced by the second-generation Dragons which has been designed to carry crew members.
Riding on its success, SpaceX plans to launch NASA astronauts in the spring. It is also collaborating with other companies to fly tourists and researchers to space in a few year’s time.
