 So I've seen a couple launches in person before, but I've never gotten to visit the rocket before it went up. So it's crazy to think that just in a couple of hours this place is going to be filled with a lot of flames. We're here at Cape Canaveral, Florida, home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. We've come to see SpaceX launch one of its Falcon 9 rockets. But I'll be honest, I came here to watch it land. We all know the story. SpaceX has been trying to land its rockets after launching them into space to save on manufacturing costs. They've had some explosive misses and some overwhelming success. And I followed all of these, but only through a tiny computer screen. So I thought it was time to see one with my own two eyes. We traveled all the way from New York to Florida for SpaceX CRS-9. That was the company's ninth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. But before we saw the launch and landing, we paid a quick visit to the rocket. On top of this rocket is SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule. It's filled with nearly 5,000 pounds of goodies and science experiments that need to get to the International Space Station. That includes the first DNA sequencer to be used in space and a shiny new international docking adapter. That adapter will be added to the outside of the station, allowing future private spacecraft to automatically dock with the ISS. And eventually, SpaceX's own vehicles will be using that adapter. They're ushering us out, but we'll be seeing the rocket later. All stations, one minute to launch. Oh my gosh. VC and DC on countdown. Verify F9 and Dragon are in startup. Falcon 9 is in startup. Dragon is in startup. T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Lift off to the Falcon 9. Falcon 9 is clear to Towers. Reception 10-1 to 7, stay secure. All right. We have stage separation. Stage separation. Coming back. You can see it. Oh my God, here it comes. Oh my goodness. Oh my gosh. Stage one entry burn is starting. Oh my God, it looks like it's right ahead of us. It's moving fast. Oh, it just turned off. Stage one entry burn is shutdown. Next burn will be to land it. Stage one is transonic. Stage one landing burn has started. Here we go, here we go. Landing lights have deployed. Oh my God, oh my God. LZ-1, Falcon 9 has landed. Landing operators, moving to procedure 11.100 on recovery and LZ-1, Anet. Oh my God. That huge noise came from a bunch of sonic booms. The Falcon 9 enters the Earth's atmosphere going faster than the speed of sound, creating shockwaves we don't hear until the rocket reaches the ground. Oh my God, that shook me. I've never seen anything like that. That is cool. That is something everybody's got to see. As a space reporter, I write about space flight every day. But there's something fundamentally different about seeing one of these events in person. I still can't seem to put into words what it was like to see that rocket land and then to feel the sonic boom go right through me. It was so intense, even locals in the area reported it to 911. But as cool as it all was, SpaceX hopes these landings become just as routine as the launches themselves. After it was all over, Hans Koenigsmann, one of the VPs for SpaceX, said this. One day people will pay less attention to this and that's actually the day when we succeed. But for now, it's still really awesome. What are you doing? I'm just taking, hold on. I'm taking an obligatory SpaceX selfie. Head роз.
 So I've seen a couple launches in person before, but I've never gotten to visit the rocket before it went up.
 So it's crazy to think that just in a couple of hours this place is going to be filled with a lot of flames.
 We're here at Cape Canaveral, Florida, home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
 We've come to see SpaceX launch one of its Falcon 9 rockets. But I'll be honest, I came here to watch it land.
 We all know the story. SpaceX has been trying to land its rockets after launching them into space to save on manufacturing costs.
 They've had some explosive misses and some overwhelming success.
 And I followed all of these, but only through a tiny computer screen. So I thought it was time to see one with my own two eyes.
 We traveled all the way from New York to Florida for SpaceX CRS-9.
 That was the company's ninth cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.
 But before we saw the launch and landing, we paid a quick visit to the rocket.
 On top of this rocket is SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule.
 It's filled with nearly 5,000 pounds of goodies and science experiments that need to get to the International Space Station.
 That includes the first DNA sequencer to be used in space and a shiny new international docking adapter.
 That adapter will be added to the outside of the station, allowing future private spacecraft to automatically dock with the ISS.
 And eventually, SpaceX's own vehicles will be using that adapter.
 They're ushering us out, but we'll be seeing the rocket later.
 All stations, one minute to launch.
 Oh my gosh.
 VC and DC on countdown. Verify F9 and Dragon are in startup.
 Falcon 9 is in startup.
 Dragon is in startup.
 T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
 Lift off to the Falcon 9.
 Falcon 9 is clear to Towers.
 Reception 10-1 to 7, stay secure.
 All right.
 We have stage separation.
 Stage separation.
 Coming back.
 You can see it.
 Oh my God, here it comes.
 Oh my goodness.
 Oh my gosh.
 Stage one entry burn is starting.
 Oh my God, it looks like it's right ahead of us.
 It's moving fast.
 Oh, it just turned off.
 Stage one entry burn is shutdown.
 Next burn will be to land it.
 Stage one is transonic.
 Stage one landing burn has started.
 Here we go, here we go.
 Landing lights have deployed.
 Oh my God, oh my God.
 LZ-1, Falcon 9 has landed.
 Landing operators, moving to procedure 11.100 on recovery and LZ-1, Anet.
 Oh my God.
 That huge noise came from a bunch of sonic booms.
 The Falcon 9 enters the Earth's atmosphere going faster than the speed of sound,
 creating shockwaves we don't hear until the rocket reaches the ground.
 Oh my God, that shook me.
 I've never seen anything like that.
 That is cool.
 That is something everybody's got to see.
 As a space reporter, I write about space flight every day.
 But there's something fundamentally different about seeing one of these events in person.
 I still can't seem to put into words what it was like to see that rocket land
 and then to feel the sonic boom go right through me.
 It was so intense, even locals in the area reported it to 911.
 But as cool as it all was, SpaceX hopes these landings become just as routine as the launches themselves.
 After it was all over, Hans Koenigsmann, one of the VPs for SpaceX, said this.
 One day people will pay less attention to this and that's actually the day when we succeed.
 But for now, it's still really awesome.
 What are you doing?
 I'm just taking, hold on.
 I'm taking an obligatory SpaceX selfie.
 Head роз.