Last week, Elon Musk’s SpaceX tried to land a rocket on a drone ship, floating in the Atlantic Ocean. They failed.
Now, Musk has posted some images of the Falcon 9’s collision and the gnarly explosion that followed.
According to Musk, the rocket’s fins lost power, causing the rocket to hit at a near 45 degree angle – smashing the legs and engine section. After that, leftover fuel and oxygen met up and … well, here:
@ID_AA_Carmack Tks. Turns out we recovered some impact video frames from drone ship. It's kinda begging to be released…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
@ID_AA_Carmack Before impact, fins lose power and go hardover. Engines fights to restore, but … pic.twitter.com/94VDi7IEHS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
@ID_AA_Carmack Rocket hits hard at ~45 deg angle, smashing legs and engine section pic.twitter.com/PnzHHluJfG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
@ID_AA_Carmack Residual fuel and oxygen combine pic.twitter.com/5k07SP8M9n
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
@ID_AA_Carmack Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event. Ship is fine minor repairs. Exciting day! pic.twitter.com/tIEctHFKHG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015
RUD! You know what they say – you gotta crack a few rockets …
Image via Elon Musk