SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket took off Sunday for the first time from launch pad 39A, a historic facility under lease from NASA, and delivered to orbit an uncrewed supply ship heading for the International Space Station. <\/p>\n
The first stage booster returned to a landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 9 miles (15 kilometers) to the south of pad 39A the first such recovery on land in daylight. <\/p>\n
Liftoff occurred at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) from pad 39A, a day after SpaceX called a last-minute abort to examine and replace a suspect actuator in the upper stage engine. <\/p>\n
Around two-and-a-half minutes later, the Falcon 9s first stage engines switched off, and the second stages single Merlin engine ignited to propel the missions cargo craft payload into orbit. Cold-gas nitrogen thrusters on the first stage booster re-oriented the vehicle to fly tail first, then a subset of its main engines fired in succession three times to guide the rocket back to Earth at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral. <\/p>\n
The first stages center engine conducted the final landing burn as four legs deployed from the base of the booster for touchdown. It was the eighth time SpaceX has recovered a rocket stage, the third time the booster has returned to land at Cape Canaveral, and the first such descent over land in daylight. <\/p>\n
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These photos were released by SpaceX late Sunday and early Monday. <\/p>\n
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from pad 39A, then lands nearby - Spaceflight Now<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket took off Sunday for the first time from launch pad 39A, a historic facility under lease from NASA, and delivered to orbit an uncrewed supply ship heading for the International Space Station. The first stage booster returned to a landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 9 miles (15 kilometers) to the south of pad 39A the first such recovery on land in daylight Continue reading