SpaceX's recent attempt to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform in Florida was unsuccessful, but there were no visuals to tell the full story -- until now.
The company CEO Elon Musk shared four images from the failed landing on Twitter, in a response to Oculus VR CTO and game developer legend John Carmack.
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Later, SpaceX shared a Vine video that captured the whole event.
Musk's descriptions help explain what happened to the rocket during landing.
Before impact, the rocket's fins ran out of fuel and lost power. Its engines tried to restore the proper landing angle, but failed, with the rocket hitting the ocean platform's surface hard at a 45 degree angle. The legs and the engine section were smashed, and residual fuel, combined with oxygen, caused an explosion.
@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
Though the sequence of images looks pretty dramatic, Musk says the ship is "fine" and in need of "minor repairs."
@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
Getting the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage back safely on an ocean platform was a brave precision landing attempt no one has attempted before. In a tweet, Musk said the failed attempt "bodes well for the future."
And even though the landing part of the mission didn't go as planned, the rocket did safely carry the company's Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, delivering supplies and belated Christmas presents to the astronauts on board.