WATCH: SpaceX Rocket Explodes after Missing Landing

SpaceX-NASA

SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted a video to Twitter Friday showing his company’s Falcon 9 rocket crashing in a fiery explosion on a barge in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The rocket had just returned from making a delivery to the International Space Station, according to the New York Times. The company had been trying to land the rocket on the ocean barge so that it could re-use it for future flights. Most rockets are allowed to crash into oceans, or otherwise burn up on re-entry into the atmosphere; had SpaceX’s latest effort succeeded, it would have represented the first time a rocket had successfully been landed for re-use.

“Close, but no cigar,” Musk captioned his video. “This time.”

The Times expounded on the problem with the landing:

Fins that were guiding the descent ran out of hydraulic fluid after about four minutes, and the rocket engines were not able to compensate, Mr. Musk reported. The rocket stage hit the deck of the ship at a 45-degree angle, causing an explosion as the residual oxygen and fuel in the rocket combusted — “full RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly),” as Mr. Musk tweeted.

SpaceX will reportedly attempt another rocket landing in two to three weeks, when the next Falcon 9 rocket is launched.

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