SpaceX Grasshopper Rocket Makes Highest Flight Yet

摘要

A private experimental rocket that may eventually lead to a fully reusable launch system has flown higher than ever before, soaring 80 stories into the air before landing softly back at its pad.rnThe prototype Grasshopper rocket, built by the private spaceflight company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), flew to an altitude of 250 meters, hovered for a brief stretch and then returned to Earth at the company's rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas, April 19.rnThe one-minute test flight was the fifth made by the Grasshopper rocket. The jaunt more than tripled the rocket's previous record altitude of 80 meters, which was achieved during a March 7 test flight.