spacetoday.net: SpaceX releases images and video of Falcon 9 stage landing attempt

Posted: Sat, Jan 17, 2015, 9:15 AM ET (1415 GMT)
Falcon 9 stage exploding after landing attempt on ship, Jan 2015 (Elon Musk/Twitter)

SpaceX released Friday images and video showing the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket attempting a landing on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean after a launch earlier in the month. The video shows the first stage approaching the deck of the landing ship at a 45-degree angle. The stage lands on the deck and then explodes, scattering debris. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that fins mounted on top of the stage, used for steering, had run out of hydraulic fluid and had gone "hardover", and the stage's engines could not compensate. The next landing attempt will have significantly more hydraulic fluid available, he said. SpaceX plans to make another landing attempt on January 31, after the launch of the DSCOVR satellite from Cape Canaveral.