SpaceX 'Grasshopper' Rocket Leaps Sideways in Amazing Test Flight

An experimental reusable rocket built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX has soared though a series of ever-higher test flights over its Texas launch site, but it may have just taken its most awesome leap yet: a sideways rocket hop.

Nicknamed Grasshopper, the rocket prototype successfully performed a sideways "divert" test on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at SpaceX's proving grounds in McGregor, Texas. SpaceX released an amazing video of the sideways Grasshopper rocket flight yesterday.

The new video shows SpaceX's Grasshopper launching to an altitude of 820 feet. The rocket then went into a hover mode, moved 328 feet sideways, and then returned back to the center of its launch pad. From launch to landing, the flight lasted just over one minute. Read more...