SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket Explodes After Takeoff
Posted on June 28, 2015
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded shortly after takeoff this morning. The CRS-7 mission was carrying supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). The explosion of the craft followed what appeared to be a successful launch.
The SpaceX Twitter account says the "vehicle experienced an anomaly on ascent." NASA Launch Commentator George Diller reports on NASA's SpaceX blog, "At this point, it's not clear to the launch team exactly what happened."
The unmanned resupply mission launched from Cape Canaveral. It was SpaceX's seventh commercial resupply mission under its NASA contract. It was carrying 4,00 pounds of supplies, including science experiments and technology research. The supplies included materials to support 30 student research investigations.
Elon Musk tweeted, "Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown. Will provide more info as soon as we review the data."
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket. It carries cargo in its Dragon capsule. Here is footage showing the explosion:
Astronaut Scott Kelly watched the launch from the ISS. He notes that "Space is hard." Sadly, there will be failures like today's failed launch along the way to success.
Watched #Dragon launch from @space_station Sadly failed Space is hard Teams assess below @NASAKennedy #YearInSpace pic.twitter.com/myi3col5Ix
— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 28, 2015
Photo: NASA