This is What it Looks Like When a GoPro Falls From Space
SpaceX put a camera in a payload fairing for its Falcon 9 rocket
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SpaceX may not have succeeded at figuring out how to land and reuse its unmanned Falcon 9 rockets yet, but it’s taking advantage of every moment in flight — like this video showing what it looks like when a GoPro camera inside a payload fairing falls slowly back towards Earth.
According to Spaceflight Now’s Stephen Clark, the camera was found in debris discovered by beachgoers in the Bahamas. Clark writes that the camera was then returned to SpaceX, which has not confirmed where it was found or which mission it was from. SpaceX hopes that the rocket, which delivers payloads to the International Space Station and launches satellites into space, will eventually take humans into space, too.
If humans do make it into space on a Falcon, their descent will likely be just as beautiful — and they’ll hopefully arrive on Earth in a bit better shape than the rocket’s debris. Here’s what the fairing looked like when it was discovered:
This may be as close as I get to my lifelong dream of visiting space (hopefully not though) via @SpaceX @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/AgLsH74kN7
— Kevin Eichelberger (@kpe) May 29, 2015/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/accounts/headshot/erin.png)