Top 15 Space and Astronomy Stories from Slate

Phil Plait in Slate put together a helpful video discussing the Top Space and Astronomy Stories in 2015, including New Horizons arriving at Pluto, the Dawn spacecraft over Ceres, and reusable rockets.  He also has time to mention the science in the movie The Martian as well as a cameo by Elon Musk on the Simpsons.  It is quite a list, as it has been quite a year. 

SpaceX: Welcome Back, Baby

SpaceX has succeeded in its attempt to safely land a Falcon 9 rocket after it put communication satellites into orbit, creating the first official reusable rocket by a company supplying the space station. The successful attempt happened yesterday in Florida, as noted by Bloomberg news:

Using rocket propulsion, SpaceX guided the stage to a slow, controlled stop at Landing Zone 1, a former U.S. Air Force rocket and missile testing range last used in 1978 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Following the landing, SpaceX founder Elon Must tweeted "Welcome back, baby."  And with that the space industry take another large leap.