SpaceX Releases Video Simulating Falcon Heavy Rocket Taking Off and Re-Landing (WATCH)
ByNot long after their Falcon 9 rocket crashed in an attempt to re-land itself, SpaceX has released a video simulating Falcon Heavy rocket launching and re-landing.
According to Discovery News, the video shows a three-rocket booster blasting off Kennedy Space Center in Fla., though SpaceX currently launches from Cape Canaveral, Fla. In the video, all three rockets land back on Earth.
SpaceX raised some eyebrows when they first announced their intention to design a reusable rocket that can send a cargo capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) and then land itself back on Earth. They have been successful in test runs, but their first attempt in a live resupply mission was not. They did, however, get the cargo capsule to the ISS.
SpaceX is expected to try to re-land its Falcon 9 rocket again on Feb. 9 when the company will launch a space weather monitoring satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
Along with Boeing, SpaceX will be central to NASA's plan to end reliance on the Russian government to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. If consistently successful, the reusable Falcon 9 rocket could save NASA tons of money, especially since they would no longer need to send astronauts to Russia first.