‘Revolutionary Moment’: SpaceX Falcon 9 Reusable Rocket Return Landing

Summary: SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket return landing on Dec. 21 is a "revolutionary moment" for SpaceX founder Elon Musk's goal of affordable space travel.

"There and back again" ~ SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket makes space history with déja vu round trip, Cape Canaveral to space and back to Cape Canaveral: SpaceX Photos (Official SpaceX Photos), Public Domain, via Flickr

The exemplary Cape Canaveral round trip of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015, makes dramatic space history and brings the rocket’s daring genius dreamer ever closer to his goal of affordable space travel so humans become a multi-planetary species.

Eleven ORBCOMM OG2 commercial communications satellites are now in low orbit in successful completion of the primary mission of SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket on Dec. 21. SpaceX Falcon 9’s literally trailblazing secondary mission also succeeds.

Less than three minutes after liftoff at 8:29 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket’s first stage separates from the second stage and its payload of satellites. An aerial U-turn at about 124 miles above the Earth’s surface begins Falcon 9’s historic precision steerage to SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1), about six miles (9.6 kilometers) from the launch site.

Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, Space X Falcon 9 reusable rocket defies the stereotypical burning of rockets upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Science fiction realist and SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweets the sweet pioneering victory to his 3.11 million personal Twitter followers and 1.14 million SpaceX followers: “There and back again.” The catchphrase is the second posthumous homage to science fiction greats paid by Musk during on-water trials and final on-land success in achieving a precise, safe return landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by 20th century British high-fantasy writer John Ronald Reuel “J.R.R.” Tolkien details the courageous persistence and character development of naïve Bilbo Baggins as he confronts challenges in harrowing journeys far beyond his utopian homeland.

"Just Read the Instructions" is one of two custom-built ocean platforms honoring planet-sized, sentient starships in The Player of Games, the second installment in the utopian Culture series by 20th century Scottish science fiction writer Iain Menzies Banks. The other spaceport drone ship is named "Of Course I Still Love You." "Just Read the Instructions" serves as a test site in 2015 for on-water trials of the Falcon 9 reusable rocket.

Driving down the high cost of space access has long concerned governmental agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and commercial players, such as SpaceX and other aerospace manufacturers. Pivotal to a substantial reduction in the cost of space access is effective reusability of rockets. Prior to Monday’s stunning success, SpaceX’s one-off rockets each about equal the cost, but not the lifespan, of a commercial airliner.

“If one can figure out how to effectively reuse rockets just like airplanes, the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. A fully reusable vehicle has never been done before. That really is the fundamental breakthrough needed to revolutionize access to space,” notes Elon Musk on his SpaceX website.

Elon Musk’s triumph on Dec. 21 expands on the successful launch and return of New Shepard suborbital rocket on Monday, Nov. 23, to the West Texas range of Blue Origin, founded by Amazon.com founder Jeffrey “Jeff” Preston Bezos. New Shepard’s return occurs just above space’s internationally recognized border, at about 62 miles (99.77 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface. A parachute opens to assist in New Shepard’s landing about 5 feet (1.5 meters) from the launch site.

“I still can’t quite believe it,” Musk says after the stunning landing. “I think this is a revolutionary moment. No one has ever brought an orbital class booster back intact.”

The rocket that touched space and eased back to Earth ~ SpaceX Falcon 9 reusable rocket rests on landing site, December 21, 2015; Elon Musk tweets of primary and secondary mission successes: "11 satellites deployed to target orbit and Falcon has landed back at Cape Canaveral. Headed to LZ-1. Welcome back, baby!": SpaceX Photos (Official SpaceX Photos), Public Domain, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Falcon 9 there and back again: SpaceX Photos (Official SpaceX Photos), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/23604164970/

Falcon 9 landing: SpaceX Photos (Official SpaceX Photos), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacexphotos/23271687254/

For further information:

Agence France-Presse. "SpaceX successfully lands its 'revolutionary' reusable rocket for the first time." Raw Story. Dec. 23, 2015.
Available @ http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/spacex-successfully-lands-its-revolutionary-reusable-rocket-for-the-first-time/

Davenport, Christian. "Elon Musk's SpaceX returns to flight and pulls off dramatic, historic landing." The Washington Post > News > The Switch. Dec. 21, 2015.
Available @ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/12/21/elon-musks-spacex-pulls-off-dramatic-historic-landing/

Dean, James. "Blue Origin launches, lands New Shepard rocket booster." Florida Today > Tech > Science > Space. Nov. 24, 2015.
Available @ http://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2015/11/24/blue-origin-launches-lands-new-shepard-booster/76301552/

Elon Musk @elonmusk. "11 satellites deployed to target orbit and Falcon has landed back at Cape Canaveral. Heading to LZ-1. Welcome back, baby!" Twitter. Dec. 21, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/679127406813188097

Elon Musk @elonmusk. "There and back again." Twitter. Dec. 21, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/679137936416329728

Petersen, Melody. "SpaceX landing hailed as giant leap for space travel." LA Times > Business. Dec. 22, 2015.
Available @ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1223-spacex-20151223-story.html

"Reusability: The Key to Making Human Life Multi-Planetary." SpaceX > News. June 10, 2015.
Available @ http://www.spacex.com/news/2013/03/31/reusability-key-making-human-life-multi-planetary

SpaceX. "Falcon 9 First Stage Landing / From Helicopter." YouTube. Dec. 21, 2015.
Available @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCBE8ocOkAQ

"SpaceX makes history, successfully lands Falcon 9 rocket back on earth." news.com.au > Technology. Dec. 23, 2015.
Available @ http://www.news.com.au/technology/spacex-makes-history-successfully-lands-falcon-9-rocket-back-on-earth/news-story/9637c92566635905357fe9033d73d90e

Stubby the Rocket. "Elon Musk Names SpaceX Drone Ships in Honor of Iain M. Banks." Tor.com. Jan. 23, 2015.
Available @ http://www.tor.com/2015/01/23/elon-musk-iain-m-banks-just-read-the-instructions/