SpaceX Rocket Crashes And Explodes On Landing At Sea

SpaceX has been performing very well with its rockets and Dragon spacecraft delivering supplies to the ISS for NASA. So far, most of those trips have gone off without a hitch. SpaceX has an ambitious plan that would allow it to capture those first stage rockets and reuse them to make the cost of sending cargo and people into space more affordable.

The plan involves a drone ship that is like a floating landing pad that sits in the ocean and automated systems that aim to allow the first stage rockets to land in an upright position on the drone ship platform for reuse. SpaceX recently tried this landing at sea and things didn't go well.

CEO Elon Musk has released some still shots from the impact video to show what happened aboard the ship during landing. He also made notes with some of the images to describe what happened. Musk says that before impact, the fins on the rocket lost power and "go hardover"; the engines tried to restore power but failed.

The rocket impacted at a 45-degree angle and crushed the landing legs and lower engine section. Left over fuel and oxygen combined creating an explosion. Musk then described the massive explosion that destroyed the rocket as a "FULL RUD" or rapid unscheduled disassembly event. He did note that het drone ship was fine and only needed minor repairs.

Update: You can't accuse Elon Musk of lacking a sense of humor. The outspoken chief-exec has revealed that the next drone-ship landing attempt will take place in 2-3 weeks, with plenty 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

Update 2: SpaceX has released a short Vine showing the crash itself:

SOURCE: Twitter