CRS-8 (Falcon 9)
12 April 2016
Falcon 9 First Stage Recovery
Port Canaveral
Page 3 of 3
The first stage is secured to the stand.
Once the first stage was secure on the stand, a telescopic boom lift made numerous forays up the length of the rocket where two men in the basket carried out work to help make the rocket safe for moving.
The men in the cherry picker must have had a dizzying view of the Port when they reached the top of the 14-story tall rocket.
Up and down the length of the rocket the men went as the job required.
Thrusters positioned at each corner of the barge help keep the platform stable as the rocket lands.
What appeared to be a jet fighter plane noisily flew around over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Here it is seen with the crane for the rocket in the foreground.
An aerial view of the operation from atop Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral.
The barge and first stage. Note the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center is visible on the horizon at the extreme right of the image.
A view of the barge that the first stage landed on. Note the blue thrusters on the corners.
A closer view of the landing deck shows the bulls eye painted on the deck in white and yellow circles. The rocket landed off center at right where those brown bars used to secure the rocket to the deck for the voyage back to Port are visible. SpaceX founder Elon Musk stated the rocket came down in 50-mile an hour crosswinds which helps explain the off center landing.
The cherry picker goes to work again with the VAB clearly visible in the background.
The Port Canaveral photographs cover a period of about three and a half hours. Sadly, we could not stay to see more.
 
UPDATE: The Falcon 9 booster seen here became the first booster, along with its Merlin engines, to be reflown by SpaceX on its quest for rocket reusability. Click here to see the SES-10 launch photos featuring the reuse of this booster.
 
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