SOMETIMES, the dark horses are the ones to watch. On November 23rd Blue Origin, a publicity-shy rocketry firm owned by Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, announced that it had achieved something spectacular. Not only did its (uncrewed) New Shepard craft make it safely back to Earth after a brief sojourn in space—so, too, did the BE-3 rocket booster that launched New Shepard in the first place. After separating from the spacecraft, the rocket fell back to Earth. At around 1.5km from the ground, it reignited its engines, slowing its fall and leading to the controlled, gentle landing that can be seen in the video below (for those who wish to skip the PR, the action begins around 1:35). To quote the firm’s triumphant press release: “Now safely tucked away at our launch site in West Texas is the rarest of beasts, a used rocket.”
At the moment, space rockets are one-shot machines. After boosting their payload to the required speed and altitude, they fall back to Earth—often breaking up in the atmosphere on the way. That is one reason why space flight is so eye-wateringly expensive. It is a bit like blowing up your car after every...Continue reading
Source: Science and technology http://ift.tt/1Ys2TXC
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