JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — SpaceX tweeted out a Vine video around noon Friday showing the unmanned rocket clipping it’s floating landing pad, then busting into a fireball.
“Close but no cigar,” read the caption on the post.
A rendering shows how the rocket was supposed to gently land on an automated barge 200 miles off the coast of Jacksonville last Saturday.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the issue was that rocket ran out of hydraulic fluid before landing.
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SpaceX was trying to land the rocket, instead of letting it crash into the ocean after it separated from a cargo vessel on its way to the International Space Station.This type of rocket landing has never been tried before.
Action News went to the Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville to ask how we can label this botched landing as a failure or success, or even both.
“A near success, a near success -- I mean it blew up in a million pieces,” said Eddie Whisler, director of planetary programs. “It was really close I think there is a lot they’re excited about.”
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That automated landing barge was at Jaxport before the launch and it was docked on the Saint Johns River afterwards.
It will have to have some equipment replaced after this explosion for another mission that is already planned in a few weeks.
Musk also sent out a tweet earlier Friday saying, "The next rocket landing on drone ship will be in two to three weeks with way more hydraulic fluid. At least it should explode for a different reason."
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