The Space X explosion at launchpad in Florida puts a halt on its latest mission. The Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to launch this month, but it seems like would be a no-go due to the recent incident.
Fiasco Not the First Time
This is not the first time that Space X was plagued with fiascos like this. In June 2015, NASA collaborated with Elon Musk to help them transport a cargo to the International Space Station. But the mission failed when the Falcon 9 rocket blew up a few minutes after the launch, which resulted in significant delays. NASA's failed project with Space X was immediately blamed to Elon Musk.
Elon Musk was able to regain NASA's confidence and convinced them to give the project another shot. Fast forward to today, the Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled for a test launch which resulted to the Space X explosion at its launchpad in Florida. This is the second time Space X failed in a span of 15 months. According to report in LA Times, Elon Musk, Space X CEO, quickly refuted that it was not an explosion but a ball of fire. Eitherway, it does not look good for Elon Musk and the Space X.
Damage was Contained
Fortunately for other spacecrafts within the space launch complex 41, the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) was not affected by the Space X explosion at launchpad in Florida. OSIRIS-Rex is good to go and it is scheduled to launch on Thursday next week.
As for let-downs, it wasn't just NASA that was disappointed about the Space X explosion at the launchpad in Florida. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of facebook, was deeply disappointed after hearing the news, as BBC reports. The Falcon 9 rocket was carrying a satellite to help Facebook expand the internet in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Zuckerberg's satellite was pretty much destroyed in the Space X explosion, but he has probably anticipated this since he was quick to come up with a Plan B. Facebook CEO says that they still have Aquila, and he is hopeful that this latest development will be that one thing that connects people and gives them opportunity to stay in touch.
