When the Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX returned to Earth last Saturday, it didn’t exactly land according to plan. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk then tweeted: “Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time.” He later assured everyone that SpaceX would get to the bottom of what happened and why.
Not only did the SpaceX team figure it out, but they also released footage of the hard landing online:
As for what happened, it seems the Falcon 9 just wasn’t getting enough fluids:
It turns out that the hydraulic fluid ran out for one of the rocket’s four hypersonic grid fins, which moved independently to control roll, pitch and yaw during landing. The rocket’s engines tried to compensate for the failed fin, but the Falcon 9 came in at the wrong angle and blew up, scattering debris across the deck and into the sea. The drone ship escaped relatively unscathed. (Via NBC News)
The footage is more suggestive of a Michael Bay film than the result of hard-working science bros, but never fear. Bay has nothing to do with the SpaceX agency.