SpaceX F9 : CRS SpX-18 : July 25, 2019 - DISCUSSION

[cscott]

It could also be that (say) SpaceX requested a photo of a particular part of dragon for internal documentation purposes (isn't Dragon sporting some new thermal tiles?), perhaps based on something seen recently.  That request may have caused a reassessment of lighting conditions at departure time, resulting in the reschedule.  Lots of possible reasons.

[Paul_G]

Great shots from Pauline Again (@w00ki33) showing the Dragon capsule being unloaded.

https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1167135493399568384

In the final shot you can see how the test Starship heat tiles held up compared to when we last saw them in John Kraus' pre launch photos:

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1154096671703404544

In Paulines shot, the nearest test heat tile seems to be slightly lower than the 'old' style tile to its left - as this tile is immediately below the main parachute bay, I wondered if the panne opens rather violently, and knocked it off. Alternatively the test heat tile might react differently to the reentry environment, and not expand / erode as much as the old style tile.

[Comga]

https://twitter.com/SpaceXFleet/status/1166455430551392258

NRC Quest has arrived at the splashdown location of Dragon, after traveling 10 km in ~30 minutes.

The vessel will now deploy fast-approach boats to collect up the chutes and help secure Dragon for the lift onboard.

The RIBs made it to the DM-1 capsule about two minutes after landing.
Given their maximum speed of <30 knots that had to be less than 2 km

It seems Go Quest was much farther from CRS-18 Dragon's splashdown.
I've been wondering about the landing precision since SpaceX stopped publicizing it after the second Dragon landing.
Anyone have any information if this was a more conservative stand-off distance or a less precise landing?