Today, we find out what Elon Musk really meant when he tweeted, “close, but no cigar this time.” Last weekend, SpaceX attempted to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket. The idea was to bring the first stage back down and land it on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. Everything was going well until right at the last second.
Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 10, 2015
The problem was the grid fins ran out of hydraulic fluid. Check out how the hard landing looked from a camera on the platform.
Elon Musk explains what happened in a series of tweets to John Carmack.
@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
Here’s a few things I noticed. First, the Falcon 9 was incredibly close to landing. The fact that it was that close to the platform on the first attempt has to be encouraging.
Second, “Full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) event” is an awesome phrase. A scientist’s way of saying shit just blew up.
Musk says the next attempt coming in a few weeks will have 50% more hydraulic fluid.
Next rocket landing on drone ship in 2 to 3 weeks w way more hydraulic fluid. At least it shd explode for a diff reason.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2015