SpaceX tried to catch its rocket nosecone with a giant net — and just missed

After launching its Falcon 9 rocket from California this morning, SpaceX used a giant net to try to recover the rocket’s nosecone as it fell down in the Pacific Ocean. The first-time experiment failed, however: one of the pieces of the nosecone missed the net, which was attached to a ship, and landed intact on the sea surface instead.Also known as the payload fairing, the nosecone is an earplug-shaped casing that sits on the top of the rocket, shielding the vehicle’s payload during