But Severe Weather Destroyed The Rocket Before It Could Be Recovered

SpaceX got some good news and some bad news from the test of a booster designed to be reusable following its most recent Dragon launch.

The good news was that the booster made a "soft landing" in the Atlantic Ocean. Had it been recoverable, it could have potentially flown again.

The bad news ... severe weather in the landing area destroyed the booster before it could be recovered, and even the Coast Guard was not going out that day.

The website Mashable reports that the announcement was made at a quickly-arranged news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Friday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the telemetry received from the booster confirmed that it had made the soft landing, and "was in a healthy condition after that." But the booster was "subsequently destroyed by wave action" in the ocean, and there was not a vessel or captain willing to go out to try to retrieve it. He said some part of the booster, including one of the landing legs, has been recovered.

Musk said the company's long-range plans are to have boosters land back on solid ground, where it is much more likely to be recovered. "What SpaceX has done thus far is evolutionary, not revolutionary," Musk said. "If we can recover the booster stage, the chance is there for revolutionary."

Musk said that a second attempt at a booster recovery will be made on a future commercial mission. He said if such a landing can take place on land, the booster could conceivably be reused the following day. Recovery from the water would require about a two-month refurbishment process.

(Image from SpaceX "Grasshopper" test flight video)

FMI: www.spacex.com