SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station for NASA, then attempted to land on a drone ship at sea. About 80,000 people tuned in to the SpaceX live stream as Falcon 9 blasted from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 in Florida. The entire Falcon 9 rocket is 70 meters tall — a 25-story building headed to space. The SpaceX Dragon CRS-8 mission delivered 6,900 pounds/3,130 kilograms of science, crew supplies and hardware to the International Space Station. The Dragon is expected to stay on the ISS for just over a month and then return back to Earth sometime in May.

credit: NASAKennedy

The 22-story Falcon 9 lifted off from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. carrying the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite on SpaceX’s first deep space mission. Falcon 9 is a family of launch vehicles designed and manufactured by SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The family consists of the Falcon 9 v1.0, Falcon 9 v1.1, and the Falcon 9-R. Both stages of this two-stage-to-orbit vehicle are powered by rocket engines that burn liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants.

credit: Official SpaceX Photos