Space X's Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off from space launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida June 28, 2015 with a Dragon CRS7 spacecraft. The unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, following what was meant to be a routine cargo mission to the International Space Station. "The vehicle has broken up," said NASA commentator George Diller, after NASA television broadcast images of the white rocket falling to pieces. "At this point it is not clear to the launch team exactly what happened." The disaster was the first of its kind for the California-based company headed by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, who has led a series of successful launches even as competitor Orbital Sciences lost one of its rockets in an explosion in October, and a Russian supply ships was lost in April. SpaceX's live webcast of the launch went silent about two minutes 19 seconds into the flight, and soon after the rocket could be seen exploding and small pieces tumbling back toward Earth. AFP PHOTO/ BRUCE WEAVER
Es una imagen que algún día podría resultar emblemática: un cohete de 14 pisos de altura que, envuelto en una nube de humo y fuego, tocaba el suelo con suavidad en la Zona de Aterrizaje 1 de Cabo Cañaveral, apenas minutos después de cumplir su misión en el espacio.
El suave aterrizaje generó un enorme entusiasmo en SpaceX, el emprendimiento aeroespacial de Elon Musk, y por buenas razones: el exitoso viaje y el regreso de un Falcon 9 era uno de los objetivos más ambiciosos que tenía la compañía.
Su resonante éxito de vuelo, luego de tres fracasos anteriores, sugiere que el sector espacial podría estar al borde de una revolución.
