SpaceX Rocket Lauch Runs Into Trouble But Should Land Safely

Today was a big day for the privately owned SpaceX company. The commercial vessel carrying thousands of pounds of cargo for those living at the International Space Station ran into some trouble after its 10:10 a.m. launch this morning. While the issues will change the docking schedule for the vessel, it looks like it won't be a problem that will cause too many headaches.

When SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule shot off into space this morning, things seemed to be going pretty well. After liftoff, the Dragon separated from the upper rocket nine minutes into the flight. If things had all had gone well, the Dragon was expected to reach the International Space Station on Saturday. However, all did not go well. Three of the four sets of thrusters pods on the capsule did not immediately set into action, causing the capsule’s solar wings to be delayed. Anyone watching knew something was wrong when coverage ended without warning.

The issues were more annoying than horrifying, however. According to the Huffington Post, NASA flight controllers later offered to help the troubled spacecraft with its thruster problem and SpaceX engineers are confident the issues can be fixed. Soon, the Dragon Capsule will get close enough to the space station that a mechanical arm will be used to dock the capsule. Which means the Thirty Seconds To Mars single the band sent with the Dragon should land safely at the International Space Station. Clearly one of these issues is more important than the other, but we’ll let you decide which.