CNN Tech by Jackie Wattles 3/31/2018
A SpaceX rocket launch grabbed the public's attention once again Friday when a ship wielding a net made a failed attempt to grab the rocket's fairing as it fell back to Earth.
Wait, what?
1. What is a fairing?The nose cone, or fairing, is located at the very tip of the rocket. It acts a shield for satellites during launch. Once the rocket is in space, the fairing splits into two and falls away. After most rocket launches, the fairing is left to plummet toward a watery grave in the ocean.
2. What did SpaceX do? SpaceX doesn't want its fairings to become fish food. If it can recapture the $6 million fairing and reuse it, that will save the company a bundle of cash.
So, after a routine launch of its Falcon 9 rocket on Friday, the company attempted to save the fairing before it splashed into the ocean.
More:
http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/31/technology/spacex-fairing-recovery-explained/index.html
