Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Watch a tiny SpaceX rocket land in a backyard pool

Published Jun 27th, 2016 9:00PM EDT
SpaceX Drone Rocket

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

No, Elon Musk isn’t on a serious budget. This is one very dedicated fan’s re-enactment of SpaceX landing its Falcon 9 rockets, using a very small quadrotor version of the Falcon 9, a backyard pool, and an unmanned drone barge.

SpaceX has previously described trying to land its rocket as like vaulting a pencil over the Empire State Building, and even at smaller scale, it’s clear how difficult the trick is.

DON’T MISS: Burger King’s Mac n’ Cheetos is exactly what America needs

Even though the YouTuber is using four rotors rather than one big rocket engine, he still appreciates the difficulty:

“The “rocket” is built around a stripped down Blade Inductrix 200, using a variety of model rocket and custom parts. The legs deploy in flight, and I’ve got a removable “Flame” that can be attached. The Droneship is made from 1″ insulation foam, and is built to the correct scale for the 1m tall rocket. It is a tiny landing pad, and give me even more respect for the amazing accomplishment that is landing the real one!”

Of course, for added realism, the hobby rocket should have to crash into the pool four or five times before actually sticking the landing.

Chris Mills
Chris Mills News Editor

Chris Mills has been a news editor and writer for over 15 years, starting at Future Publishing, Gawker Media, and then BGR. He studied at McGill University in Quebec, Canada.