Last week on Friday, April 8, history was made when SpaceX successfully landed a rocket on a floating barge for the first time. Now, you can relive that moment in dramatic fashion with a series of stunning images released by the company.
The images show the moment that the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which had helped launch the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), touched down on the barge called Of Course I Still Love You, named in honor of the works of Iain M. Banks.
The barge, officially known as an autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS), is actually one of two, the other being named Just Read the Instructions, again in homage to the science fiction Culture universe created by Banks.
Both barges measure 91 meters (300 feet) long and 52 meters (170 feet) wide, which might sound big, but compared to the entire ocean, it’s essentially a “postage stamp” to land on, as described by Musk. This makes the autonomous landing of the first stage all the more impressive, as if it needed to be.
Anyway, enough blabbering. Check out the awesome photos taken by remote cameras on the barge below.
All images courtesy of SpaceX via Flickr
And here's what the landing looked like from afar, in case you forgot:
1
