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Space Shuttle Columbia (which broke up during re-entry) was reported in the news as having safely landed, with fake quotes from the crew members and everything as to what a pleasant reentry etc. The article as originally published was later either retracted or significantly modified.

Whats the takeaway here? Even space shuttle launches were so normal and routine that journalists would mail in predictable articles days in advance and they would be published online at a specified time with the expected outcome.

Someday, somebody will comment that even fedex deliveries to Mars are no longer newsworthy.

Perhaps it's not noteworthy enough now that we know the tech works

Was it successful?

Absolutely. The payload was apparently successfully delivered. The only issue they had was with the recovery of the heavy, which was, apparently, somewhat expected in this case.