It seems that the top of the booster fell off when the booster tipped over after a wave hit the droneship. Hopefully not typical.
The bottom portion (RP-1 tank), the landing legs, and the engines stayed on the ship. Octagrabber sustained some damage.
Photos from various Florida Spaceport photographers:
Videos from NSF Space Coast Live:
Whelp. Looks like the front fell off.
Hopefully it wasn’t made of cardboard derivatives
Do we know if it’s been towed outside the environment as of yet?
That’s not very typical - I’d like to make that point.
SpaceX had previously noted that newer boosters have an updated landing leg design with much better stability, which would have survived these rough seas.
Wonder if they duct tape a new aluminum façade to replace the missing lox tank, and mock it up in Cape Canaveral somewhere.
newer boosters have an updated landing leg design with much better stability
SpaceX VP of Launch has shared some details: https://nitter.net/turkeybeaver/status/1739640175183945860
Anyone else is surprised by how rusted the barge is‽
No, it lives in the ocean and is made of steel
They should make it out of stainless steel with sub 10-micron tolerances.
Close-up video from USLaunchReport.
Updates:
- Overnight, one strut was removed and the landing leg was folded.
- During the day, workers removed the three accessible landing legs and prepped for lifting B1058 off the droneship. This seems to have included raising and lowering B1058 into a better position. It’s not clear what is next, but the booster is still on the droneship at the moment.
SpaceX VP of Launch provides some interesting info on landing legs: https://nitter.net/turkeybeaver/status/1739640175183945860
Super disappointing and sad to lose booster 1058.
Tippy boosters occur when you get a certain set of landing conditions that lead to the legs having uneven loading. Heavy wind or sea state then cause the booster to teeter and slide which can lead to even worse leg loading. In this state, securing with the OG is super challenging and often only partial successful
We came up with self leveling legs that immediately equalize leg loads on landing after experiencing a severe tippy booster two years ago on Christmas (first flight of 1069). The fleet is mostly outfitted, but 1058, given its age, was not. It met its fate when it hit intense wind and waves resulting in failure of a partially secured OG less than 100 miles from home.
One thing is for sure… we will make lemonade out of lemons and learn as much as possible from historic 1058 on our path to aircraft like operations.
The damaged octagrabber has been removed from JRTI.
The remains of B1058 have been loaded onto a transport and departed the port by road.
JRTI has also left the port, likely headed for some maintenance.
