Yes, it’s true that yesterday SpaceX failed to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a drone barge in the ocean. But it wasn’t exactly a crash landing, like last year’s attempt. In fact, it was a nearly perfect landing — until the rocket began to tilt and fall over. This video shows you how close they came.
But it certainly looks like what Elon Musk explained that he saw. Musk wrote on Twitter that “Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing.”
If SpaceX can perfect these landings for their rockets, we’re one step closer to the goal of having reusable parts in each rocket — thus making it cheaper to escape the gravity well, and journey out into the black.
Contact the author at annalee@gizmodo.com.
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