The SpaceX Dragon and Dragon 2 capsules are designed to use the splash landing method. The original Dragon cargo splashed the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. At NASA`s request, the crew and cargo variants of the Dragon 2 capsule spray off the coast of Florida, either in the Atlantic Ocean or in the Gulf of Mexico. [5] [6] Splashdown is the method of parachuting a spacecraft into a body of water. It was used by manned U.S. spacecraft before the Space Shuttle program, the SpaceX Dragon and Dragon 2 capsules, and is expected to be used by the upcoming Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle. It is also possible that the Russian Soyuz spacecraft will land in the water, although this is only a possibility. The only example of unintentional splashing with crew in Soviet history is the landing of Soyuz 23. Apollo 11 was America`s first lunar landing mission and marked the first time humans walked on the surface of another planetary body.
The possibility that astronauts could bring “lunar germs” back to Earth was distant, but not impossible. To contain possible contamination at the splash site, the astronauts donned special biological insulation clothing and the outside of the suits were cleaned before the astronauts were hoisted aboard the USS Hornet and safely escorted to a mobile quarantine facility. [4] The company has implemented a new atmospheric re-entry and ocean splashing process that uses a parachute to slow down the booster`s descent, but the ultimate goal is to catch it in the air with a helicopter. Subscribe to America`s largest dictionary and get thousands of additional definitions and advanced search – ad-free! As the name suggests, the capsule parachutes into an ocean or other large body of water. The properties of the water dampen the spacecraft so much that no brake rocket is needed to slow the final descent, as is the case with the Russian and Chinese manned space capsules (while Shenzhou has designed a raft and a balanced capsule in case of splash), which return to Earth by land. The American practice came in part because U.S. launch sites are located on the coast and start primarily on the water. [1] Russian launch sites are located far inland and most of the first takeoffs were probably aborted on land. [Citation needed] The splash landing method was used for Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo (including Skylab, which used Apollo capsules).
Soyuz 23 unintentionally landed on an icy lake with muddy patches of ice during a snowstorm. [2] [3] Marci jumped one foot out of the water, and his splash sent waves of water bouncing off the cave walls. Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for splashdown “splashdown”. Merriam-Webster.com dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/splashdown. Retrieved 14 January 2022. See full definition of splash in the dictionary of English language learners The concept of early design of the new exploration vehicle of the American crew Orion provided for recovery on land using a combination of parachutes and airbags, although it was also designed to perform an emergency splash (only for abandonment in flight) if necessary. For reasons of weight, the concept of airbag design was abandoned. The current design concept calls for splash landings in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. [7] These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “splashdown.” The opinions expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback.
SpaceX said the flight “will be carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX`s mission control” and will end with a splash off the coast of Florida. As with a handful of previous missions that experimented with reuse in the first phase, the Electron booster made a controlled splash in the Pacific Ocean. The most dangerous aspect is the possibility of the spacecraft being flooded and sunk. For example, when the hatch of Gus Grissom`s Liberty Bell 7 capsule exploded prematurely, the capsule sank and Grissom almost drowned. Once the flotation collar is attached, a hatch is usually opened on the spacecraft. At that time, some astronauts decide to be hoisted aboard a helicopter for a trip to the rescue ship, and some have decided to stay with the spacecraft and be lifted aboard the ship by a crane. All Gemini and Apollo flights (Apollos 7 to 17) used the former, while the Mercury missions from Mercury 6 to Mercury 9, as well as all skylab and Apollo-Soyuz missions, used the latter, especially Skylab flights, to obtain all medical data. During the Gemini and Apollo programs, NASA used MV recuperators for astronauts to train for water leakage. On the first Mercury flights, a helicopter attached a cable to the capsule, pulled it out of the water and delivered it to a nearby ship.
That changed after the sinking of the Liberty Bell 7. All subsequent capsules of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo had a flotation collar (similar to a rubber life raft) attached to the spacecraft to increase their buoyancy. The spacecraft would then be placed next to a ship and lifted onto deck by a crane. If the capsule descends away from any life-saving force, the crew is exposed to greater danger. For example, in Aurora 7, Scott Carpenter passed the assigned landing zone by 400 kilometers (250 miles). These breakdowns in the rescue operation can be mitigated by putting multiple ships on hold at different locations, but this is a rather expensive option. The Apollo 15 spacecraft crashed safely despite a parachute failure. (NASA) Since the flooding of the spacecraft occurs from a place in its fuselage where it tears first, it is important to determine the location on the fuselage that will experience the highest load. [8] This position along the impact side is determined by the surrounding “air cushion layer” that deforms the water surface before the moment of impact and results in a non-trivial geometry of the liquid surface during the first landing. [9] [10] [11] Land in the water, as in The Spaceship splashed a few hundred meters from the firing point.
The splash in this sentence alludes to the effects of a solid body on water. [c. 1960]. . . .