NASA's SpaceX Falcon 9 launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida didn't quite go as planned. The rocket, which was carrying around 5000 pounds of food and supplies for astronauts in the International Space Station, as well as a new docking platform intended to make it easier to help future astronauts in arriving at the International Space Station, exploded high in the sky shortly after launching from the launch station in Florida.
Also on board were two of Microsoft's HoloLens gadgets, which were included as a part of a new test program dubbed ‘Sidekick,' to be used by astronauts to better communicate with space agencies back here on planet Earth.
Bits and pieces of the Falcon 9 rocket could be seen plummeting back to Earth and into the Atlantic Ocean after the explosion occurred at approximately two and a half minutes after the initial launch. Fortunately, there were no astronauts aboard the Falcon 9 rocket; it was an unmanned rocket intended only to re-supply the astronauts currently in space, so there was no loss of human life from the accident.
NASA says that it's unknown why the anomaly occurred, but everything seemed to be going great until the Falcon 9 reached supersonic speeds 27 miles up in the air. NASA notes that the rocket was traveling at approximately 2900 miles per hour.
Below, you can watch a video showing the takeoff and the explosion of the Falcon 9 rocket:
It is worth noting that this is the third failed attempt in eight months to re-supply the International Space Station. The failure means that International Space Station astronauts will have to wait longer for replenished supplies. International Space Station astronauts are stocked up on food, clothes, and other necessities until at least September, which means NASA still has plenty of time to try and get supplies back up to them.
Russia will reportedly be attempting a re-supply mission on July 3rd, which will hopefully succeed and get the International Space Station astronauts everything they need to survive longer in space.
We can only hope that supplies will get to the astronauts in space soon. Rocket Science is a very extreme form of critical thought and careful engineering. There is always a lot of wiggle room for things to go wrong, but persistence is the key.
Source: BBC
