Watch SpaceX employees erupt in nerd-joy as their rocket lands safely back on Earth

By Kevin Roose  |  December 22, 2015 | 2:38am
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Tonight, Elon Musk’s SpaceX made aerospace history as the company’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, launched its payload into space, and — for the first time ever — landed upright back on Earth, achieving the company’s long-held mission of landing a reusable rocket.

SpaceX’s achievement is a big, big deal in the world of space exploration. Musk has said that landing reusable rockets is a key factor for exploring (and perhaps eventually colonizing) planets like Mars. And the company has tried landing rockets unsuccessfully twice before, which makes today’s victory extra sweet.

But the best thing about the Falcon 9 landing was watching SpaceX’s employees go absolutely bonkers with joy when the rocket successfully touched down.

Here’s the clip from SpaceX’s official livestream. At 0:27, you can see the Falcon 9 touch down, and at 0:39, the camera cuts to Mission Control, where hundreds of geeky aerospace scientists lose their shit simultaneously. It’s an adorably enthusiastic human response to a genuine scientific breakthrough.

“I cannot believe this is happening,” one voice is heard saying on the stream.

Musk was in a celebratory mood, too. Shortly after the successful landing, he tweeted:

 
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