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Last week, SpaceX finally accomplished something that it had never done before. He launched the Falcon Heavy on his first commercial mission, and when his trio of thrusters returned to Earth, he nailed the three landings. It was an amazing feat, and it still is, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans to strengthen the core of Falcon Heavy.
In an announcement that the company certainly would not have to give, SpaceX revealed to The edge that the Falcon Heavy central booster was swallowed up by the ocean after landing safely on the company's drone.
SpaceX described the unfortunate event as follows:
Over the weekend, because of rough seas, the SpaceX salvage team was unable to secure the recall of the center for its return trip to Port Canaveral. When conditions worsened with swells from eight to ten feet, the booster began to change and was eventually unable to stand. While we had hoped to bring back the recall intact, the safety of our team always takes precedence. We do not expect future missions to be affected.
The company apparently managed to recover the propellant in the ocean. Elon Musk revealed on Twitter that the engines of the propeller seemed "correct", but that they should be inspected closely:
Seawater can seriously damage many sensitive rocket components and it is difficult to guarantee that any item of equipment that has been submerged in the ocean is free from corrosion or build up.
Nevertheless, SpaceX has already announced its intention to reuse the Falcon Heavy nosecone fairings in another launch before the end of the year. The fairings also spread throughout the ocean and were quickly recovered by SpaceX. It therefore seems that the company is confident that it can cancel out the effects of seawater on at least some of its expensive rocket parts.
The second launch of Falcon Heavy has hit SpaceX pretty hard, but there seems to be a lot more to do. Maybe next time.
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