SpaceX Falcon 9 FT launch - Eutelsat 117 West B + ABS 2A - SLC-40

[Grendal]

Three tweets from Elon including a long distance video from the chase ship:

Elon Musk (@elonmusk) | Twitter

Turns out the landing was not as fast we thought, but still hard enough to destroy the primary airframe and accordion the engines

Which we already knew from what little we could see.

Looks like early liquid oxygen depletion caused engine shutdown just above the deck

Which maybe caused all the black smoke?

As mentioned at the beginning of the year, I'm expecting ~70% success rate on landings for the year. 2016 is the year of experimentation.

That is for those that don't understand and follow everything as much as we do.

Okay. I've watched the video a number of times. I think you can see the booster topple over. There is so much smoke it is very tricky but I think it can be seen falling.

And wow, this booster really seemed to hover. Maybe that was the experiment. Have it try to land softer because of the last hard hit.

A Youtube version from Elon's tweet. Elon's is real time. This is slowed down.

 

[hockeythug]

And wow, this booster really seemed to hover. Maybe that was the experiment. Have it try to land softer because of the last hard hit.

Yeah, that's the theory I am reading. Stage appeared to have "landed" a little high.

 

[physicsfita]

It appears that the droneship made it back to port. It looks to be in pretty good shape. The booster stage -- not so much.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Thanks for posting!

 

[ecarfan]

That looks like the bottom of the stage, the engines, or what's left of them, are on the left side. Correct?

 

[GoTslaGo]

I think so, covered in blue tarp. The white/black part sticking up looks like the top, I think.

 

[physicsfita]

Here's some video of the booster being hoisted off the droneship at port:

 

[Grendal]

You can see that the booster probably settled on the actual engine bells. In the last minute of the video you can see crumpled bells from the weight of the booster resting on them.

Other than that it looks really good. A fresh coat of paint, buff out a few scratches, and straighten out the bells and it's good to go.