JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A slightly damaged 300-foot barge was pulled to the shore of the St Johns River after the SpaceX Falcon 9 failed to land on it Saturday morning.
“SpaceX the Falcon 9 that just launched yesterday made an attempt to land the first big stage on the barge,” said Scott Prombo, a spectator.
Prombo drove all the way from Atlanta to Cape Canaveral just to see history made, then followed the barge's trip to Jacksonville.
“It's my first rocket launch,” Promo said. “That's why I came down.”
SpaceX's Falcon 9 had a successful launch, but not so much of a nice landing.
The goal was to have the booster land on a 300 foot automated barge, 200 miles off our coast.
The idea was to test if rockets can be re-used, instead of being ruined after crashing in the sea.
But the barge landing was a bust.
SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk tweeted, "I am so proud of my crew for making huge strides towards reusability on this mission. You guys rock."
For Prombo, it was still exciting to watch.
“It came back through the atmosphere and we could see the fire trails all the way down so that was pretty exciting,” Prombo said.
Many others tracked the barge as it passed underneath the Dames Point Bridge into Jacksonville.
While SpaceX only estimated a 50/50 chance of a successful landing, others were hoping for more.
“I hoped that it would happen,” he said. “That was a shot in the dark.”
Prombo says there's always next time.
“In a month or two with their next launch, hopefully it'll be successful again,” Prombo said.
WJAX
