SpaceX Launches DSCOVR Satellite but Skips Rocket Landing
NBC News - Feb 11, 2015
The third time was the charm for SpaceX — which launched the Deep Space Climate Observatory on its Falcon 9 rocket, but decided against trying to land the rocket's first stage on an oceangoing platform in rough seas.
The sunset liftoff took place at 6:03 p.m. ET Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, under perfect weather conditions. But how about the conditions for recovering the rocket after launch? Forget about it, SpaceX said.
The California-based company said its autonomous spaceport drone ship and its accompanying fleet of other vessels were heading back to port in Jacksonville, Florida. In a statement, SpaceX explained that the weather was too dangerous to keep the equipment and crew stationed hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic:
