If Authentic, It Shows SpaceX Came Very Close To Landing On The Floating Platform In The Atlantic

A video posted to the website VidMe shows what appears to be SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster attempting to land on a barge in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In the video, the booster appears to touch down, then tips over and explodes.

While the camera angle seems to be from the deck of the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), it has not been acknowledged by SpaceX. But if its a fake, someone went to a lot of trouble to make it a very good one.

NBC News reports that a tweet attributed to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says that the ASDS is "fine. No hull breach and repairs are minor. Impact overpressure is closer to a fast fire than an explosion."

SpaceX engineers are currently focusing on a "snag experience by an engine throttle valve" which may have made the control system slow to respond to onboard systems during landing ... leading to the loss of the booster.

Meanwhile, Dragon has docked with ISS delivering its load of supplies, which includes the first off-planet espresso machine designed to operate in zero-G. We suppose if you're going to be on the station for a year ... it might be a necessity rather than a luxury.

(Image captured from Vidme video)

FMI: www.spacex.com