B11 is finally coming home 🥹 
We know this has been quite awaited, despite many complications and possible conflicted interests. So here's the FULL story;
On September 17th, we noticed the marine vessel HOS Ridgewind out in the relative vicinity of the booster landing site. Following the knowledge of previous operations of this vessel off the coast, we started looking into exactly what it could be doing. We concluded that it was likely that Ridgewind was out salvaging or recovering portions of Booster 11. We know B11 suffered a catastrophic breakup following touchdown on June 6th. So the vehicle is in probably tens of thousands of fragments under the water, which, at that location(we measured with instruments, on-location) is near exactly 180ft deep (~55m).
Numerous points of evidence lead us to believe that HOS Ridgewind was directly related to the recovery effort. And we ended up being correct. Similarly, HOS Briarwood, the sister ship of Ridgewind, assisted Falcon 9 salvage efforts many years back following landing failures. The company that operates these vessels, Hornbeck Offshore, have had employees move from Hornbeck directly into SpaceX offshore recovery teams, upon shallow investigation of a few LinkedIn profiles. So we were pretty confident, with that, and other factors outlined in a previous thread by @mcrs987, that HOS Ridgewind might have something interesting onboard.
So, we kind of joked at first, between a few members of our team, "wouldn't it be funny if we went out to go see what they're actually doing?"
So we did.
In a kind of last-minute scramble everything was arranged a mere half an hour before we departed Port Isabel on the 18th. This is when we first began posting about the event, which, unintentionally caused some major derailment in some communities, due to people immediately jumping to conclusions. This could have been handled better on both sides, and will be taken into account for the future. We must make it clear that there was no intent on engagement bait, building hype, or anything. An unexpected situation, which will be discussed in the following parts of this statement, caused us to be unable to provide a further update following vaguely mentioning what our plan was.
The reasoning behind going now, rather than waiting for the vessel to come back to port, is due to one simple reason. They could return under nightfall. That would not be ideal for viewing what could be on the deck. Additionally, if they are actively pulling components out of the water, we would be able to observe that, before components are placed under a tarp or other means of protection.
It took around 2 hours and 20 minutes, each way, to get from Port Isabel to the HOS Ridgewind vessel. This is, unbeknownst at the time to the rest of the team still on land, is where interesting developments began. Immediately upon entering the vicinity of HOS Ridgewind, A drone approached our vessel and told us to not proceed any closer than a 1-mile (1.6km) radius exclusion zone (Ridgewind had a dive flag up.) Said drone watched our craft for a short period of time. It is interesting to note that the international guideline for diving clearance is a 300 foot (91m) exclusion zone, which is significantly smaller than the radioed 1-mile zone. This was the first major sign that something was up.
That drone kind of sold the deal further. For what purpose would a survey ship need a security drone? We (obviously) complied to their request. One interesting thing is that not even the USCG, even after consulting them after this first situation, had no idea that this salvage operation was occurring.
On September 17th, we noticed the marine vessel HOS Ridgewind out in the relative vicinity of the booster landing site. Following the knowledge of previous operations of this vessel off the coast, we started looking into exactly what it could be doing. We concluded that it was likely that Ridgewind was out salvaging or recovering portions of Booster 11. We know B11 suffered a catastrophic breakup following touchdown on June 6th. So the vehicle is in probably tens of thousands of fragments under the water, which, at that location(we measured with instruments, on-location) is near exactly 180ft deep (~55m).
Numerous points of evidence lead us to believe that HOS Ridgewind was directly related to the recovery effort. And we ended up being correct. Similarly, HOS Briarwood, the sister ship of Ridgewind, assisted Falcon 9 salvage efforts many years back following landing failures. The company that operates these vessels, Hornbeck Offshore, have had employees move from Hornbeck directly into SpaceX offshore recovery teams, upon shallow investigation of a few LinkedIn profiles. So we were pretty confident, with that, and other factors outlined in a previous thread by @mcrs987, that HOS Ridgewind might have something interesting onboard.
So, we kind of joked at first, between a few members of our team, "wouldn't it be funny if we went out to go see what they're actually doing?"
So we did.
In a kind of last-minute scramble everything was arranged a mere half an hour before we departed Port Isabel on the 18th. This is when we first began posting about the event, which, unintentionally caused some major derailment in some communities, due to people immediately jumping to conclusions. This could have been handled better on both sides, and will be taken into account for the future. We must make it clear that there was no intent on engagement bait, building hype, or anything. An unexpected situation, which will be discussed in the following parts of this statement, caused us to be unable to provide a further update following vaguely mentioning what our plan was.
The reasoning behind going now, rather than waiting for the vessel to come back to port, is due to one simple reason. They could return under nightfall. That would not be ideal for viewing what could be on the deck. Additionally, if they are actively pulling components out of the water, we would be able to observe that, before components are placed under a tarp or other means of protection.
It took around 2 hours and 20 minutes, each way, to get from Port Isabel to the HOS Ridgewind vessel. This is, unbeknownst at the time to the rest of the team still on land, is where interesting developments began. Immediately upon entering the vicinity of HOS Ridgewind, A drone approached our vessel and told us to not proceed any closer than a 1-mile (1.6km) radius exclusion zone (Ridgewind had a dive flag up.) Said drone watched our craft for a short period of time. It is interesting to note that the international guideline for diving clearance is a 300 foot (91m) exclusion zone, which is significantly smaller than the radioed 1-mile zone. This was the first major sign that something was up.
That drone kind of sold the deal further. For what purpose would a survey ship need a security drone? We (obviously) complied to their request. One interesting thing is that not even the USCG, even after consulting them after this first situation, had no idea that this salvage operation was occurring.
We stopped at a 1 mile distance from the vessel, and our photog @lifeatstagezero began taking photos. As you can see in the few attached photos, the aft crane was deployed over the starboard side of the vessel. Dive lines are deployed as well as data/power lines for ROVs. The two blue ROV cages are notably empty. Ridgewind carries two Triton XLS class ROVs. And, most importantly, a blue tarp covering what appears to be large mangled debris on the aft deck. These debris can be up to individual interpretation but we believe there is some segment of a downcomer sticking out of the left side of the tarp. Even less sure, but there might be a Raptor bell on its side near the middle as well? (It's a somewhat conical object under the tarp)
There is also two large white bags present, to the port side of the large crane. We believe these are some sort of smaller assorted debris.
One of our favorite details is the visible "OCCUPY MARS" shirt that one of the crew members is clearly seen wearing. If you had any doubts that this operation was related to SpaceX, that, and this next portion, should clear up that doubt.
We believe that we stumbled into their very first day of salvage and recovery operations. In (albeit low resolution) Sentinel-2 imagery from the day before, the aft deck appears entirely clear. The crane is still stowed and not over the side. And most importantly, no blue tarp present, so there was nothing on aft deck at that time. In SAR imaging from Sentinel-1, of the night before our little expedition, the aft crane is visible deployed over the starboard side. It is a reasonable assumption to assume they pulled objects up only under the cover of night.
Following this encounter, and a wealth of photos, we begin returning to land.
Upon return, the rest of the team who was on land was made aware of what happened out there. Out of an extreme abundance of caution over the material captured and the original first encounter, we decided to implement certain precautions to both prevent us potentially getting in trouble and to protect the safety of the crew aboard Ridgewind. We don't want to be the cause of another DM2 splashdown situation.
We also reached out to some representatives at SpaceX for further clarification on the situation. On the 19th, we received a response. They were a great help in determining next steps. They confirmed with us that they were aware we were in the vicinity of Ridgewind. (Also, definitively confirming that the operation was contracted and run by SpaceX.) The main guideline was not publishing media until Ridgewind returns to port, as a safety precaution for the crew onboard. So as of this being published, HOS Ridgewind is well en route to the port of Altamira, in Mexico.
There is also two large white bags present, to the port side of the large crane. We believe these are some sort of smaller assorted debris.
One of our favorite details is the visible "OCCUPY MARS" shirt that one of the crew members is clearly seen wearing. If you had any doubts that this operation was related to SpaceX, that, and this next portion, should clear up that doubt.
We believe that we stumbled into their very first day of salvage and recovery operations. In (albeit low resolution) Sentinel-2 imagery from the day before, the aft deck appears entirely clear. The crane is still stowed and not over the side. And most importantly, no blue tarp present, so there was nothing on aft deck at that time. In SAR imaging from Sentinel-1, of the night before our little expedition, the aft crane is visible deployed over the starboard side. It is a reasonable assumption to assume they pulled objects up only under the cover of night.
Following this encounter, and a wealth of photos, we begin returning to land.
Upon return, the rest of the team who was on land was made aware of what happened out there. Out of an extreme abundance of caution over the material captured and the original first encounter, we decided to implement certain precautions to both prevent us potentially getting in trouble and to protect the safety of the crew aboard Ridgewind. We don't want to be the cause of another DM2 splashdown situation.
We also reached out to some representatives at SpaceX for further clarification on the situation. On the 19th, we received a response. They were a great help in determining next steps. They confirmed with us that they were aware we were in the vicinity of Ridgewind. (Also, definitively confirming that the operation was contracted and run by SpaceX.) The main guideline was not publishing media until Ridgewind returns to port, as a safety precaution for the crew onboard. So as of this being published, HOS Ridgewind is well en route to the port of Altamira, in Mexico.
Following that ordeal, later in the day on the 19th we began monitoring the area with the Pleadies Neo constellation of imaging satellites. As of writing on the 22nd, we unfortunately did not get a single pass that did not have the ship clouded over, so the imagery is unusable. We had also begun drafting plans for a potential second visit to the craft. However, early in the morning on the 22nd, Ridgewind began the return leg. Those secondary plans had to be abandoned.
HOS Ridgewind is currently set to arrive at the port of Altamira, tomorrow at around 10am local time. Following an expected drop-off period of maybe a day or so to offload equipment that it picked up there during it's previous visit to Altamira, Ridgewind will finally return to Brownsville.
If you would like to support more crazy expeditions and experiments like this, we highly advise following along. We have many more interesting and ambitious projects planned for the future.
HOS Ridgewind is currently set to arrive at the port of Altamira, tomorrow at around 10am local time. Following an expected drop-off period of maybe a day or so to offload equipment that it picked up there during it's previous visit to Altamira, Ridgewind will finally return to Brownsville.
If you would like to support more crazy expeditions and experiments like this, we highly advise following along. We have many more interesting and ambitious projects planned for the future.
We have also released a video version of this operation, for those who are interested in more angles;
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