Hard landing Falcon-9R (more precisely in the trash)

Video attempts to soft landing the first stage of the Falcon-9 rocket of the private space company SpaceX. As in general, I previously predicted , the first attempt ended with a big firework display.

Landing failed due to the failure of the aerodynamic stabilizers. They were driven by an open-circuit hydraulic drive. This means that the liquid once passed through the working circuit and squeezed into the atmosphere. According to the founder of the company SpaceX Ilona Mask, such a scheme was chosen to ensure the minimum mass of the step at the final stage of the descent. According to him, only 10% was not enough. As a result, it was not possible to aim the stage exactly at the landing site, and to stabilize it. As can be seen from the video, the descent and contact with the surface occurred at an angle of 45 degrees, because of this, the rocket's folding leg broke, and the engine compartment hit the deck. From the blow, there was an explosion of the fuel components and, by inertia, the rocket stage was thrown overboard.

The same, only for frames published earlier:
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The company hopes to repeat the attempt at landing the first stage in late January or early February 2015. Oddly enough, the barge, after such a blow and an explosion, did not suffer much:



More details about the purpose of such experiments, why not a parachute, why into the ocean, at whose expense fireworks, etc. written here .

This is how the rocket launch and flight took place:


(at 8:15, 11:44, 12:29 visible curious footage from the fuel tank of the second stage)

The main goal of the launch, the launch of the Dragon cargo ship, was successfully accomplished. Now the Dragon is already docked to the ISS, so the American astronauts are not threatened with hunger, even though almost all of the Russian media have trumped about it today.