Does it need to explode and damage mechazilla? From the title I assume yes.

What counts as a catch attempt? If they plan it for IFT-5 but they decide to ditch it in the gulf instead, does that count as an attempt?

@Mqrius How much damage is "damage"? Is a scrape enough?

I would imply "damage" to mean something bad enough that it needs to be repaired before it can be used again. So scratches wouldn't count.

I mean that makes sense to me but I dunno what Gordan thinks. Also leaves open the question of small damage, like how the last few launches have each minorly messed up the Ship QD arm. That definitely needs to be repaired but I'd still classify the landing as successful myself if it happened during landing.

A ditch in the ocean is not a catch attempt.

It's theoretically possible that the booster could explode during a catch attempt and it not damage the chopsticks (for example, if it RUDs on final approach), but I'd say it's unlikely.

Fair enough. What about the opposite where it doesn't explode but it does damage the tower/chopsticks a lot?

In that case, resolves No.

Any landing you can walk away from...