While you were celebrating New Years Eve, Elon Musk was assessing the damage to SpaceX's recently landed Falcon 9 rocket.
OK, we don't know that for sure, but the SpaceX founder did tweet a closeup image of the rocket shortly before the clock stroke midnight on E.T. time, so at least part of his attention was turned to work.
Falcon 9 is back in the hangar at Cape Canaveral, Musk said on Twitter and Instagram, posting a photo in which the rocket appears to be in very good shape. "No damage found, ready to fire again," he tweeted.
Falcon 9 back in the hangar at Cape Canaveral. No damage found, ready to fire again. A photo posted by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Dec 31, 2015 at 4:18pm PST
After several unsuccessful attempts to land the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform, SpaceX finally nailed the landing on solid ground on Dec. 21.
The landing is important as it allows SpaceX to re-use the rocket's first stage on multiple missions, and thus reduce overall cost of spaceflight. A Falcon 9 rocket costs about $16 million to manufacture. Interestingly, Musk said, during a post-landing press call, that the company likely won't use the Falcon 9 first stage on any new missions, since it's the first rocket the company successfully brought back to Earth, making it "kind of unique."