Live coverage: Falcon 9 launches ocean study satellite, barge landing fails

Scientists working on a new lightning detection instrument mounted outside the International Space Station said Tuesday they expect little effect on the sensor’s performance from possible contamination from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched it into orbit April 2.

Engineers scrambled to keep NASA’s billion-dollar asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on track for its launch last week in the aftermath of an explosion a mile away at SpaceX’s launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX has released new photos of last week’s thrilling rocket landing aboard a floating drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, showing the 15-story Falcon 9 first stage slowing to a hover just as it touched down on the platform.