The video that came out this morning sure looks like a good landing
velocity, and dead nuts on the target. Which is additionally impressive
since scuttlebut said that the seas were rather choppy. One leg seems
to have failed to hold up -- the vehicle actually stood up after cut-off
long enough to make me think everything was fine, before slooowly doing
a "tiiimmmbeeerrrrrr" and toppling over.
Musk's Twitter and Instagram comments suggest that it might have
been icing on the leg locking mechanism, possibly caused by the dense
fog around the launch site during the countdown.
I *was* surprised at how instantly the rocket exploded when it hit
the deck -- I would have expected a moment for the tanks to rupture and
the residual propellants to mix a bit before the "boom."
On 1/18/2016 7:02 AM, John Dom wrote:
Leg failure. Too little engines braking force delivered prior to landing? Leg malfunction?
jd
