Unreal Video from Latest SpaceX Rocket Landing

A sped-up video from the reusable SpaceX first stage as it comes in from space to land on a drone ship

By Caleb A. Scharf on May 30, 2016
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Unreal Video from Latest SpaceX Rocket Landing — *Credit: (Credit: SpaceX, Public Domain)*

SpaceX has now nailed its third landing on an ocean-going drone ship - with its reusable Falcon 9 1st stage rocket making a successful touchdown on May 27th 2016 (and the fourth overall landing for the company).

This was a particularly 'hot' (as in high velocity, high angle) mission, sending the THAICOM 8 satellite (for commercial telecoms in India, Africa and South-East Asia) to a 91,000 km high super-synchronous transfer orbit. From there the satellite will maneuver itself to an eventual geosynchronous (36,000 km) orbit.

SpaceX also released the following extraordinary video taken from the side of the 1st stage - showing the sequence from space to landing, all in a time-compressed 30 seconds of what was actually about ten nail-biting minutes. It's a wild ride, and hopefully we'll keep seeing lots of equally compelling scenes in the future as the private space industry continues to grow.

(Video from SpaceX, SpaceX YouTube Channel)

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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Caleb A. Scharf

Dr. Caleb A. Scharf is Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University,and has an international reputation as a research astrophysicist, and asa lecturer to college and public audiences. The UK's Guardian newspaperhas listed his blog Life, Unbounded, as one of their "hottest scienceblogs," while an editor at Seed Magazine called it "phenomenal.Informed, fresh, and thoughtful." Scharf is author and co-author of morethan 100 scientific research articles in astronomy and astrophysics. Hiswork has been featured in publications such as New Scientist, ScientificAmerican, Science News, Cosmos Magazine, Physics Today, and NationalGeographic, as well as online at sites like Space.com and Physorg.com.His textbook for undergraduate and graduate students, Extrasolar Planetsand Astrobiology, won the 2012 Chambliss Prize of the AAS. Hisarticles and reviews have appeared in such prestigious publications asScience, Nature, The Astrophysical Journal, and Monthly Notices of theRoyal Astronomical Society.Dr. Scharf is a regular keynote speaker at academic meetings, such asfor the American Physical Society, museums, and both public and privatevenues, including the American Museum of Natural History, the RubinMuseum of Art in New York. He has been a guest on Krulwich on Science atNPR, William Shatner's "Weird or What?" and has served as a consultantto editors and producers at National Geographic Magazine, The ScienceChannel, The Discovery Channel, and The New York Times.