SpaceX Rocket Explodes Shortly After Takeoff

An unmanned rocket carrying supplies for the International Space Station exploded minutes after takeoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning. The SpaceX Falcon 9 was carrying the Dragon ship with more than two tons of cargo, including food, new docking rings, HoloLens augmented reality equipment, and supplies for science experiments designed by students, according to the Associated Press. After the rocket achieved supersonic speed, it exploded, and its parts fell into the Atlantic. "Falcon 9 experienced a problem shortly before first stage shutdown. Will provide more info as soon as we review the data," SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted after the explosion. NASA confirmed that the company is preparing an "anomaly" team to look into what happened. Unfortunately, this is the second anomaly this year. A Russian rocket taking cargo to the space station also failed in April. American Scott Kelly and Russians Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka are currently living at the station. According to TechCrunch, they are not in danger of running out of supplies any time soon. Kelly posted his view of the explosion from space.

SpaceX was attempting to land the Falcon 9 back on Earth following the Dragon launch, proving that rockets can be reusable.