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KABOOM! Billionaire fingers dud valve in ROCKET WIBBLE PRANG BLAST
Musk blames sluggish throttle for wobble topple booster
Billionaire biz baron Elon Musk has revealed some detail on why his firm SpaceX's scheme to bring back a first stage booster rocket in one piece just failed on the most recent attempt.
The Register reported on the drama as it unfolded on Tuesday. Once again, Falcon 9 successfully launched the capsule payload to 'nauts on the International Space Station, only for the rocket to hit the "just read the instructions" deck hard on its shaky return to Earth.
In classic Musk style, the SpaceX boss explained what had gone wrong in a tweet.
Cause of hard rocket landing confirmed as due to slower than expected throttle valve response. Next attempt in 2 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2015
He followed up with footage of the "rather tall & tippy" rocket during a short test flight in April last year when it achieved "a stable landing" courtesy of a "proper throttle response".
SpaceX will next attempt a Falcon rocket landing on its floating hoverpad ship Just Read The Instructions in June – and maybe this time the applecart-bothering rocket firm will bring one back alive. ®