CRS-5 launch was a success, bringing two Planet Labs satellites to rendezvous with station. Here is the NASA launch clip, taken from the full reel from SpaceX, and here is the Planet Labs post on this launch.
As for the booster return, here is the update from Elon: “Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho. Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced… Didn’t get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and … actual pieces.”
“Grid fins worked extremely well from hypersonic velocity to subsonic, but ran out of hydraulic fluid right before landing. Upcoming flight already has 50% more hydraulic fluid, so should have plenty of margin for landing attempt next month. Am super proud of my crew for making huge strides towards reusability on this mission.”
full size.
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