Method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water
Splashdown
is the method of
landing
a spacecraft in a body of water, usually by
parachute
. The method has been used primarily by American crewed capsules including NASA’s
Mercury
,
Gemini
,
Apollo
and
Orion
along with the private
SpaceX Dragon
. It is also possible for the Russian
Soyuz
and the Chinese
Shenzhou
crewed capsules to land in water, though this is only a contingency.
As the name suggests, the capsule
parachutes
into an
ocean
or other large body of water. The properties of water cushion the spacecraft enough that there is no need for a
braking rocket
to slow the final descent as is the case with Russian and Chinese crewed space capsules or
airbags
as is the case with the
Boeing Starliner
crewed space capsule.
The American practice came in part because American launch sites are on the coastline and launch primarily over water.
[1]
Russian launch sites are far inland and most early launch aborts were likely to descend on land.
[
citation needed
]
Missions
[
edit
]
The splashdown method of landing was used for
Mercury
,
Gemini
and
Apollo
(including
Skylab
, which used Apollo capsules).
Soyuz 23
unintentionally landed on a freezing lake with slushy patches of ice during a snowstorm.
[2]
[3]
On early Mercury flights, a helicopter attached a cable to the capsule, lifted it from the water and delivered it to a nearby ship. This was changed after the sinking of
Liberty Bell 7
. All later Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules had a flotation collar (similar to a rubber life raft) attached to the spacecraft to increase their buoyancy. The spacecraft would then be brought alongside a ship and lifted onto deck by crane.
After the flotation collar is attached, a hatch on the spacecraft is usually opened. At that time, some astronauts decide to be hoisted aboard a helicopter for a ride to the recovery ship and some decided to stay with the spacecraft and be lifted aboard ship via crane. All Gemini and Apollo flights (Apollos 7 to 17) used the former, while Mercury missions from Mercury 6 to Mercury 9, as well as all Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz used the latter, especially the Skylab flights as to preserve all medical data. During the Gemini and Apollo programs, NASA used
MV
Retriever
for the astronauts to practice water egress.
Apollo 11
was America's first Moon landing mission and marked the first time that humans walked on the surface of another planetary body. The possibility of the astronauts bringing "Moon germs" back to Earth was remote, but not impossible. To contain any possible contaminants at the scene of the splashdown, the astronauts donned special Biological Isolation Garments and the outside of the suits were scrubbed prior to the astronauts being hoisted aboard
USS
Hornet
and escorted safely inside a
Mobile Quarantine Facility
.
[4]
Both the
SpaceX Dragon 1
and
Dragon 2
capsules were designed to use the splashdown method of landing. The original cargo Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of
Baja California
. At the request of NASA, both the crew and cargo variations of the Dragon 2 capsule splashes down off the coast of
Florida
, either in the
Atlantic Ocean
or the
Gulf of Mexico
.
[5]
[6]
The early design concept for the Orion Spacecraft (then known as the
Crew Exploration Vehicle
) featured recovery on land using a combination of parachutes and airbags, although it was also designed to make a contingency splashdown (only for an in-flight abort) if needed. Due to weight considerations, the airbag design concept was dropped. The present design concept features landings via splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
[7]
Disadvantages
[
edit
]
The most dangerous aspect is the possibility of the spacecraft flooding and sinking. For example, when the hatch of
Gus Grissom
's
Liberty Bell 7
capsule blew prematurely, the capsule sank and Grissom almost drowned.
Since the spacecraft's flooding will occur from a location in its hull where it ruptures first, it is important to determine the location on the hull that experiences the highest loading.
[8]
This location along the impacting side is determined by the surrounding `air cushion' layer, which deforms the water surface before the moment of impact, and results in a non-trivial geometry of the liquid surface during first touch-down.
[9]
[10]
[11]
If the capsule comes down far from any recovery forces, the crew are exposed to greater danger. As an example, Scott Carpenter in
Aurora 7
overshot the assigned landing zone by 400 kilometers (250 mi). These recovery operation mishaps can be mitigated by placing several vessels on standby in several different locations, but this is quite an expensive option.
Locations
[
edit
]
Crewed spacecraft
[
edit
]
#
|
Spacecraft
|
Agency
|
Landing date
|
Coordinates
|
Recovery ship
|
Miss distance (km)
|
Reference
|
1
|
Freedom 7
|
NASA
|
May 5, 1961
|
27°13.7′N
75°53′W
/
27.2283°N 75.883°W
/
27.2283; -75.883
(
Freedom 7
)
|
USS
Lake Champlain
|
5.6 km (3.5 mi)
|
[12]
|
2
|
Liberty Bell 7
|
NASA
|
July 21, 1961
|
27°32′N
75°44′W
/
27.533°N 75.733°W
/
27.533; -75.733
(
Liberty Bell 7
)
|
USS
Randolph
|
9.3 km (5.8 mi)
|
[13]
|
3
|
Friendship 7
|
NASA
|
February 20, 1962
|
21°26′N
68°41′W
/
21.433°N 68.683°W
/
21.433; -68.683
(
Friendship 7
)
|
USS
Noa
(USS
Randolph
**)
|
74
|
[14]
|
4
|
Aurora 7
|
NASA
|
May 24, 1962
|
19°27′N
63°59′W
/
19.450°N 63.983°W
/
19.450; -63.983
(
Aurora 7
)
|
USS
John R. Pierce
(
USS
Intrepid
**)
|
400
|
[15]
|
5
|
Sigma 7
|
NASA
|
October 3, 1962
|
32°06′N
174°28′W
/
32.100°N 174.467°W
/
32.100; -174.467
(
Sigma 7
)
|
USS
Kearsarge
|
7.4
|
[16]
|
6
|
Faith 7
|
NASA
|
May 16, 1963
|
27°20′N
176°26′W
/
27.333°N 176.433°W
/
27.333; -176.433
(
Faith 7
)
|
USS
Kearsarge
|
8.1
|
[17]
|
7
|
Gemini 3
|
NASA
|
March 23, 1965
|
22°26′N
70°51′W
/
22.433°N 70.850°W
/
22.433; -70.850
(
Gemini 3
)
|
USS
Intrepid
|
111
|
[18]
|
8
|
Gemini 4
|
NASA
|
June 7, 1965
|
27°44′N
74°11′W
/
27.733°N 74.183°W
/
27.733; -74.183
(
Gemini 4
)
|
USS
Wasp
|
81
|
[19]
|
9
|
Gemini 5
|
NASA
|
August 29, 1965
|
29°44′N
69°45′W
/
29.733°N 69.750°W
/
29.733; -69.750
(
Gemini 5
)
|
USS
Lake Champlain
|
270
|
[20]
|
10
|
Gemini 7
|
NASA
|
December 18, 1965
|
25°25′N
70°07′W
/
25.417°N 70.117°W
/
25.417; -70.117
(
Gemini 7
)
|
USS
Wasp
|
12
|
[21]
|
11
|
Gemini 6A
|
NASA
|
December 16, 1965
|
23°35′N
67°50′W
/
23.583°N 67.833°W
/
23.583; -67.833
(
Gemini 6A
)
|
USS
Wasp
|
13
|
[22]
|
12
|
Gemini 8
|
NASA
|
March 17, 1966
|
25°14′N
136°0′E
/
25.233°N 136.000°E
/
25.233; 136.000
(
Gemini 8
)
|
USS
Leonard F. Mason
(
USS
Boxer
**)
|
2
|
[23]
|
13
|
Gemini 9A
|
NASA
|
June 6, 1966
|
27°52′N
75°0′W
/
27.867°N 75.000°W
/
27.867; -75.000
(
Gemini 9A
)
|
USS
Wasp
|
0.7
|
[24]
|
14
|
Gemini 10
|
NASA
|
July 21, 1966
|
26°45′N
71°57′W
/
26.750°N 71.950°W
/
26.750; -71.950
(
Gemini 10
)
|
USS
Guadalcanal
|
6
|
[25]
|
15
|
Gemini 11
|
NASA
|
September 15, 1966
|
24°15′N
70°0′W
/
24.250°N 70.000°W
/
24.250; -70.000
(
Gemini 11
)
|
USS
Guam
|
5
|
[26]
|
16
|
Gemini 12
|
NASA
|
November 15, 1966
|
24°35′N
69°57′W
/
24.583°N 69.950°W
/
24.583; -69.950
(
Gemini 12
)
|
USS
Wasp
|
5
|
[27]
|
17
|
Apollo 7
|
NASA
|
October 22, 1968
|
27°32′N
64°04′W
/
27.533°N 64.067°W
/
27.533; -64.067
(
Apollo 7
)
|
USS
Essex
|
3
|
[28]
|
18
|
Apollo 8
|
NASA
|
December 27, 1968
|
8°7.5′N
165°1.2′W
/
8.1250°N 165.0200°W
/
8.1250; -165.0200
(
Apollo 8
)
|
USS
Yorktown
|
2
|
[29]
|
19
|
Apollo 9
|
NASA
|
March 13, 1969
|
23°15′N
67°56′W
/
23.250°N 67.933°W
/
23.250; -67.933
(
Apollo 9
)
|
USS
Guadalcanal
|
5
|
[30]
[31]
|
20
|
Apollo 10
|
NASA
|
May 26, 1969
|
15°2′S
164°39′W
/
15.033°S 164.650°W
/
-15.033; -164.650
(
Apollo 10
)
|
USS
Princeton
|
2.4
|
[32]
[33]
|
21
|
Apollo 11
|
NASA
|
July 24, 1969
|
13°19′N
169°9′W
/
13.317°N 169.150°W
/
13.317; -169.150
(
Apollo 11
)
|
USS
Hornet
|
3.13
|
[34]
[35]
|
22
|
Apollo 12
|
NASA
|
November 24, 1969
|
15°47′S
165°9′W
/
15.783°S 165.150°W
/
-15.783; -165.150
(
Apollo 12
)
|
USS
Hornet
|
3.7
|
[36]
[37]
|
23
|
Apollo 13
|
NASA
|
April 17, 1970
|
21°38′S
165°22′W
/
21.633°S 165.367°W
/
-21.633; -165.367
(
Apollo 13
)
|
USS
Iwo Jima
|
1.85
|
[38]
[39]
|
24
|
Apollo 14
|
NASA
|
February 9, 1971
|
27°1′S
172°39′W
/
27.017°S 172.650°W
/
-27.017; -172.650
(
Apollo 14
)
|
USS
New Orleans
|
1.1
|
[40]
[41]
|
25
|
Apollo 15
|
NASA
|
August 7, 1971
|
26°7′N
158°8′W
/
26.117°N 158.133°W
/
26.117; -158.133
(
Apollo 15
)
|
USS
Okinawa
|
1.85
|
[42]
[43]
|
26
|
Apollo 16
|
NASA
|
April 27, 1972
|
0°43′S
156°13′W
/
0.717°S 156.217°W
/
-0.717; -156.217
(
Apollo 16
)
|
USS
Ticonderoga
|
0.55
|
[44]
[45]
|
27
|
Apollo 17
|
NASA
|
December 19, 1972
|
17°53′S
166°7′W
/
17.883°S 166.117°W
/
-17.883; -166.117
(
Apollo 17
)
|
USS
Ticonderoga
|
1.85
|
[46]
[47]
|
28
|
Skylab 2
|
NASA
|
June 22, 1973
|
24°45′N
127°2′W
/
24.750°N 127.033°W
/
24.750; -127.033
(
Skylab 2
)
|
USS
Ticonderoga
|
|
[48]
|
29
|
Skylab 3
|
NASA
|
September 25, 1973
|
30°47′N
120°29′W
/
30.783°N 120.483°W
/
30.783; -120.483
(
Skylab 3
)
|
USS
New Orleans
|
|
[49]
|
30
|
Skylab 4
|
NASA
|
February 8, 1974
|
31°18′N
119°48′W
/
31.300°N 119.800°W
/
31.300; -119.800
(
Skylab 4
)
|
USS
New Orleans
|
|
[49]
|
31
|
Apollo CSM-111
|
NASA
|
July 24, 1975
|
22°N
163°W
/
22°N 163°W
/
22; -163
(
ASTP Apollo
)
|
USS
New Orleans
|
1.3
|
[50]
[51]
|
32
|
Soyuz 23
|
USSR
|
October 16, 1976
|
Lake Tengiz
|
Mi-8
helicopter
|
|
[52]
|
33
|
Crew Dragon Demo-2
|
SpaceX
|
August 2, 2020
|
29°48′N
87°30′W
/
29.800°N 87.500°W
/
29.800; -87.500
(
Crew Dragon Demo-2
)
|
GO Navigator
|
|
[53]
|
33
|
Crew Dragon Crew-1
|
SpaceX
|
May 2, 2021
|
29°32′N
86°11′W
/
29.533°N 86.183°W
/
29.533; -86.183
(
Crew Dragon Crew-1
)
|
GO Navigator
|
|
[54]
|
34
|
Inspiration4
|
SpaceX
|
September 18, 2021
|
|
GO Searcher
|
|
[55]
|
35
|
Crew Dragon Crew-2
|
SpaceX
|
November 7, 2021
|
|
GO Navigator
|
|
|
35
|
Axiom Mission 1
|
SpaceX
|
April 25, 2022
|
|
Megan
|
|
|
36
|
Crew Dragon Crew-3
|
SpaceX
|
May 6, 2022
|
|
Shannon
|
|
[56]
|
37
|
Crew Dragon Crew-4
|
SpaceX
|
October 14, 2022
|
|
Megan
|
|
|
38
|
Crew Dragon Crew-5
|
SpaceX
|
March 11, 2023
|
|
Shannon
|
|
|
39
|
Axiom Mission 2
|
SpaceX
|
May 31, 2023
|
|
Megan
|
|
|
Uncrewed spacecraft
[
edit
]
Spacecraft
|
Agency
|
Landing date
|
Coordinates
|
Recovery ship
|
Miss distance
|
Jupiter AM-18
(Able and Baker)
|
USAF
|
May 28, 1959
|
48 to 96 km (30 to 60 mi) N Antigua Island
|
USS
Kiowa
|
16 km (9.9 mi)
[57]
|
Mercury-Big Joe
|
NASA
|
September 9, 1959
|
2,407 km (1,496 mi) SE Cape Canaveral
|
USS
Strong
|
925 km (575 mi)
[58]
|
Mercury-Little Joe 2
Sam The
Rhesus Monkey
|
NASA
|
December 4, 1959
|
319 km (198 mi) SE Wallops Island, Virginia
|
USS
Borie
|
? km
[59]
|
Mercury-Redstone 1A
|
NASA
|
December 19, 1960
|
378.2 km (235.0 mi) SE Cape Canaveral
|
USS
Valley Forge
|
12.9 km (8.0 mi)
[60]
|
Mercury-Redstone 2
|
NASA
|
January 31, 1961
|
675.9 km (420.0 mi) SE Cape Canaveral
|
USS
Donner
[61]
|
209.2 km (130.0 mi)
[62]
|
Mercury-Atlas 2
|
NASA
|
February 21, 1961
|
2,293.3 km (1,425.0 mi) SE Cape Canaveral
|
USS
Donner
[61]
|
20.9 km (13.0 mi)
[63]
|
Discoverer 25
(Corona 9017)
|
USAF
|
June 16, 1961
|
|
|
mid-air recovery missed
|
Mercury-Atlas 4
|
NASA
|
September 13, 1961
|
257.5 km (160.0 mi) E of Bermuda
|
USS
Decatur
|
64.4 km (40.0 mi)
[64]
|
Mercury-Atlas 5
|
NASA
|
November 29, 1961
|
804.7 km (500.0 mi) SE of Bermuda
|
USS
Stormes
|
? km
[65]
|
Gemini 2
|
NASA
|
January 19, 1965
|
16°33.9′N
49°46.27′W
/
16.5650°N 49.77117°W
/
16.5650; -49.77117
(
Gemini 2
)
3,423.1 km (2,127.0 mi) downrange from KSC
|
USS
Lake Champlain
|
38.6 km (24.0 mi)
[66]
|
AS-201
|
NASA
|
February 26, 1966
|
8°11′S
11°09′W
/
8.18°S 11.15°W
/
-8.18; -11.15
(
Apollo 201
)
8,472 km (5,264 mi) downrange from KSC
|
USS
Boxer
|
? km
[67]
|
AS-202
|
NASA
|
August 25, 1966
|
16°07′N
168°54′E
/
16.12°N 168.9°E
/
16.12; 168.9
(
Apollo 202
)
804.7 km (500.0 mi) southwest of Wake Island
|
USS
Hornet
|
? km
[67]
|
Gemini 2-MOL
|
USAF
|
November 3, 1966
|
8,149.7 km (5,064.0 mi) SE KSC near Ascension Island
|
USS
La Salle
|
11.26 km (7.00 mi)
[68]
|
Apollo 4
|
NASA
|
November 9, 1967
|
30°06′N
172°32′W
/
30.1°N 172.53°W
/
30.1; -172.53
(
Apollo 4
)
|
USS
Bennington
|
16 km (9.9 mi)
[67]
|
Apollo 6
|
NASA
|
April 4, 1968
|
27°40′N
157°59′W
/
27.667°N 157.983°W
/
27.667; -157.983
(
Apollo 6
)
|
USS
Okinawa
|
? km
[67]
|
Zond 5
|
USSR
|
September 21, 1968
|
32°38′S
65°33′E
/
32.63°S 65.55°E
/
-32.63; 65.55
(
Zond 5
)
|
USSR recovery naval vessel
Borovichy
and
Vasiliy Golovin
|
105 km (65 mi)
[69]
[70]
|
Zond 8
|
USSR
|
October 27, 1970
|
730 km (450 mi) SE of the
Chagos Archipelago
, Indian Ocean
|
USSR recovery ship
Taman
|
24 km
[71]
[72]
|
Cosmos 1374
|
USSR
|
June 4, 1982
|
17°S
98°E
/
17°S 98°E
/
-17; 98
(
Cosmos 1374
)
560 km (350 mi) S of
Cocos Islands
, Indian Ocean
|
USSR recovery ship
|
? km
|
Cosmos 1445
|
USSR
|
March 15, 1983
|
556 km (345 mi) S of Cocos Islands, Indian Ocean
|
USSR recovery ship
|
? km
|
Cosmos 1517
|
USSR
|
December 27, 1983
|
near
Crimea
,
Black Sea
|
USSR recovery ship
|
? km
|
Cosmos 1614
|
USSR
|
December 19, 1984
|
? km W of the Crimea, Black Sea
|
USSR recovery ship
|
? km
|
COTS Demo Flight 1
|
SpaceX
|
December 8, 2010
|
800 km (500 mi) west of
Baja California
, Mexico, Pacific Ocean
|
?
|
0.8 km (0.50 mi)
[73]
|
Dragon C2+
|
SpaceX
|
May 31, 2012
|
26°55′N
120°42′W
/
26.92°N 120.7°W
/
26.92; -120.7
(
Dragon C2+
)
|
?
|
?
[74]
|
CRS SpX-1
|
SpaceX
|
October 28, 2012
|
?
|
American Islander
[75]
|
?
[76]
|
CRS SpX-2
|
SpaceX
|
March 27, 2013
|
?
|
American Islander
|
?
[77]
|
Exploration Flight Test 1
|
NASA
|
December 5, 2014
|
23°36′N
116°24′W
/
23.6°N 116.4°W
/
23.6; -116.4
(
EFT-1
)
, 443 kilometres (275 mi) west of Baja California
|
USS
Anchorage
|
|
Crew Dragon Demo-1
|
SpaceX
|
March 8, 2019
|
In the
Gulf of Mexico
, off the coast of
Pensacola
, Florida
|
GO Searcher
|
|
SpaceX CRS-21
|
SpaceX
|
January 14, 2020
|
In the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of
Tampa
, Florida
|
GO Navigator
|
|
Artemis I
|
NASA
|
December 11, 2022
|
Pacific Ocean, west of
Baja California
|
USS
Portland
|
4
nm
|
|
IFT-4
|
SpaceX
|
June 6, 2024
|
Indian Ocean
|
Gallery
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"NASA article about American launch sites"
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Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Ezell, Linda Neumann (1988),
NASA Historical Data Book
(PDF)
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archived
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- Ezell, Linda Neumann (1988),
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- Orloff, Richard W.,
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archived
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External links
[
edit
]
- The dictionary definition of
splashdown
at Wiktionary