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Comment by ChuckMcM | Hacker News Reader

This is the best video of the failed landing attempt I've seen so far. Elon tweeted a grid fin hydraulic pump stalled.

I understand for "marketing" reasons why they stopped the video feed from the first stage but since there wasn't any danger to humans here I was disappointed that they cut away from that and pretty much went into the damage control speak of "the primary mission is going well."

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Elon's saying they shouldn't have cut away from it. He just posted the rocket-eye view of the water landing:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1070399755526656000

Engines stabilized rocket spin just in time, enabling an intact landing in water! Ships en route to rescue Falcon.

Although I'm completely unqualified to comment on it, I did notice that the spin seemed to reduce at the same time the landing legs extended. I'm wondering if they may have acted like fins and contributed to the countering of the rotation. If that's the case, it might be that a contingency approach of a small extension of the legs outwards (only a little) might help.

extending the landing legs will reduce roll rate for exactly the same reason a figure skater slows down when they extend their arms: roll axis moment of inertia goes up.

I'm sure they'll release video of it sooner or later. They not long ago release that montage of all their rocket failures.

I'm a little disappointed too, but it was probably the right call by them to cut the feed.

For those whose day it is to hear about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvim4rsNHkQ

Can't say they don't have a sense of humor about it.

And bear in mind that these things are 12-storey-high explosive tubes landing from 75km up in the air

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