What the floating SpaceX platform looked like after a rocket exploded on it

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We've seen the incredible explosion that took place April 14 when Elon Musk's company SpaceX tried to land one of their Falcon 9 rockets on a floating platform in the Atlantic ocean. Most of the rocket is in a million little pieces at the bottom of the ocean by now, but what about the platform?

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It's actually in pretty good shape. Have a look:

The platform, a self-driven drone ship named "Just Read the Instructions," returned to shore shortly after the landing attempt, and despite obvious burn marks and some residual rocket guts strewn across its deck, it will live to see another rocket landing.

The part of the ship that suffered the most, it seems, is the logo, which will need to be repainted. Here's a shot of the barge before the landing attempt:

spacex

SpaceX on Flickr

Just Read the Instructions now on location in the Atlantic in advance of April 14's landing attempt.

You can see someone sweeping up the deck in this shot taken by George Worthington:

Although most of the rocket didn't survive the explosion, one of the legs managed to make it back to shore intact. Here's another shot taken by Worthington of one of the giant legs hanging from a crane:

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legs

Courtesy of George Worthington and John Gardi

SpaceX's next historic landing attempt is scheduled for June 19.

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