Ambitious plan: billionaire Elon Musk. Photo: Supplied <\/p>\n
And now for Elon Musk's next trick. <\/p>\n
The billionaire entrepreneur is on the verge of attempting an audacious manoeuvrethat could make his next space flight notable not just for the takeoff, but for the landing. <\/p>\n
Typically rocket boosters have their few minutes in the fiery, 3-2-1 spotlight, propelling the rest of the stages into the great beyond, before petering out and crashing unceremoniously into the sea. <\/p>\n
A screen grab from a video a drone shot showing a prototype reusable rocket launch and land itself. <\/p>\n
But Musk thinks that ditching one of the most expensive parts of the rocket is an unnecessary waste. <\/p>\n
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So SpaceX, his start-up space company, has designed a rocket he hopes will be able to launch, then return to Earth, touching down softly on the bullseye of a barge floating in the Atlantic Ocean. <\/p>\n
Musk, the founder of Paypal and Tesla Motors, said that the odds of pulling off such an unprecedented feat \"are not great - perhaps 50 per cent at best.\" But if SpaceX is able to one day stick the landing of the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket with consistency, it would mark a significant advancement for space flight. <\/p>\n
Musk's Falcon 9 can launch, but can it land? Photo: AP <\/p>\n
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Elon Musk's next trick: Landing a rocket upright on a barge in the middle of the sea<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ambitious plan: billionaire Elon Musk. Photo: Supplied And now for Elon Musk's next trick. Continue reading