SpaceX rocket landing 'close, but no cigar'

The rocket made it to the barge, but hit it too hard

Yeah, I was a bit worried about something like that happening.  There are other things, too.  Let's say it got there, and DIDN'T land too hard.  Then, what prevents the wind and the pitching deck from overturning the rocket?

I think this all means that there will be a lot of failure before final success is reached.  Eventually, he wants to land on the ground, not out at sea.  They basically need to be out there away from it all in order to get some results that they can ponder over.  Now, they've got some results to work with, and can get to work on making improvements to their system.  Eventually, they'll get it right.  It would've been nice if it was now, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.  It's just going to take a bit longer than we'd all like.