On Friday afternoon, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft safely completed a mission to the International Space Station to deliver some 7,000 pounds of supplies. But more amazing, the Falcon 9 rocket that propelled the spacecraft into orbit, which launched at 4:43pm EST, landed safely back on earth just minutes later…on a floating barge…in the middle of the ocean.
You can watch the freakin’ amazing feat of science below.
SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, was hopeful about the mission’s success prior to liftoff, and as of now, it seems everything went exactly as planned.
Popular Mechanics reports on the purpose of the successful mission:
Packed in with the 7,000 pounds of supplies the Dragon will be bringing to the ISS is an inflatable 565 cubic-foot space module prototype that will stay attached to the space station for two years in order to test the long-term viability of inflatable living spaces like these. If it holds up well, it could form the basis for the space hotel of the future.
Man! What a time. To be alive.
[via Popular Mechanics]