Booster Toppled Over Aboard Recovery Barge Due To Heavy Seas

The Falcon Heavy booster core that was damaged after landing aboard the SpaceX 'Of Course I Still Love You' autonomous recovery barge has been returned to port in Cape Canaveral, FL.

Spaceflight Insider reports that it is not known how much of the damaged booster will be salvageable.

The booster landed aboard the barge about nine minutes after launch, but at some point over the weekend, it toppled over and was damaged due to high seas. SpaceX said that they were unable to send people over to the barge to secure the booster due to rough seas. and the large swells caused it to topple over. The scope of the damage was not known until the barge was towed back to Port Canaveral on April 18.

Spaceflight Insider reports that it appears that the upper half of the booster and at least one of its legs are missing. SpaceX has not said whether the booster broke in half and the upper portion went overboard and sank, or if it was cut away in an effort to salvage the engine and remaining legs.

The company has also not said what, if anything, they intend to try to salvage from the booster. But the next Falcon Heavy mission, planned for not later than June of this year, will not be affected. The company had always planned to use a different center core for that upcoming mission.

(Image from Port Canaveral YouTube video)

FMI: Source report
www.spacex.com