Splashdown

Locations of Atlantic Ocean splashdowns of American spacecraft.

Locations of Pacific Ocean splashdowns of American spacecraft.

Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by American manned spacecraft prior to the Space Shuttle program, and is planned for use by the upcoming Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle. It is also possible for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to land in water, though this is only a contingency. The only example of an unintentional manned splashdown in Soviet history is the Soyuz 23 landing.

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 was the case with Russian and Chinese manned space capsules, which returned to Earth over land. The American practice came in part because American launch sites are on the coastline and launch primarily over water. Russian launch sites are far inland and most early launch aborts were likely to descend on land.

Missions

The splashdown method of landing was utilized for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo (including Skylab, which used Apollo capsules). On one occasion a Soviet spacecraft, Soyuz 23, punched through the ice of a frozen lake (nearly killing the cosmonauts), and this was unintentional.^[1]

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. (Because of his overshoot aboard Aurora 7, and mindful of the fate of Liberty Bell 7, Scott Carpenter alone egressed through the nose of his capsule instead of through the hatch, waiting for recovery forces in his life raft.) 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 contaminates 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 the USS Hornet (CV-12) and escorted safely inside a Mobile Quarantine Facility.^[2]

The early design concept for the new U.S. Orion 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.^[3]

Disadvantages

The most dangerous aspect is the possibility of the spacecraft flooding and sinking. For example, when the hatch of Gus Grissom's Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule blew prematurely, the capsule sank and Grissom almost drowned.

Despite the fact that water helps cushion the spacecraft's landing to an extent, the impact can still be quite violent for the astronauts.

If the capsule comes down far from any recovery forces the crew are exposed to greater danger. As an example, Scott Carpenter in Mercury 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

Manned spacecraft

#	Spacecraft	Landing Date	Coordinates	Recovery Ship	Miss Distance (kilometres)	Refs
1	Freedom 7	May 5, 1961	27°13.7′N 75°53′W / 27.2283°N 75.883°W	USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39)	5.6	[4]
2	Liberty Bell 7	July 21, 1961	27°32′N 75°44′W / 27.533°N 75.733°W	USS Randolph (CVS-15)	9.3	[5]
3	Friendship 7	February 20, 1962	21°26′N 68°41′W / 21.433°N 68.683°W	USS Noa (DD-841) (USS Randolph (CVS-15)**)	74	[6]
4	Aurora 7	May 24, 1962	19°27′N 63°59′W / 19.450°N 63.983°W	USS Pierce DD-753 (USS Intrepid (CVS-11)**)	400	[7]
5	Sigma 7	October 3, 1962	32°06′N 174°28′W / 32.100°N 174.467°W	USS Kearsarge (CVS-33)	7.4	[8]
6	Faith 7	May 16, 1963	27°20′N 176°26′W / 27.333°N 176.433°W	USS Kearsarge (CVS-33)	8.1	[9]
7	Gemini 3	March 23, 1965	22°26′N 70°51′W / 22.433°N 70.850°W	USS Intrepid (CVS-11)	111	[10]
8	Gemini 4	June 7, 1965	27°44′N 74°11′W / 27.733°N 74.183°W	USS Wasp (CVS-18)	81	[11]
9	Gemini 5	August 29, 1965	29°44′N 69°45′W / 29.733°N 69.750°W	USS Lake Champlain (CVS 39)	270	[12]
10	Gemini 7	December 18, 1965	25°25′N 70°07′W / 25.417°N 70.117°W	USS Wasp (CVS-18)	12	[13]
11	Gemini 6A	December 16, 1965	23°35′N 67°50′W / 23.583°N 67.833°W	USS Wasp (CVS-18)	13	[14]
12	Gemini 8	March 17, 1966	25°14′N 136°0′E / 25.233°N 136.000°E	USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) (USS Boxer (LPH-4)**)	2	[15]
13	Gemini 9A	June 6, 1966	27°52′N 75°0′W / 27.867°N 75.000°W	USS Wasp (CVS-18)	0.7	[16]
14	Gemini 10	July 21, 1966	26°45′N 71°57′W / 26.750°N 71.950°W	USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)	6	[17]
15	Gemini 11	September 15, 1966	24°15′N 70°0′W / 24.250°N 70.000°W	USS Guam (LPH-9)	5	[18]
16	Gemini 12	November 15, 1966	24°35′N 69°57′W / 24.583°N 69.950°W	USS Wasp (CVS-18)	5	[19]
17	Apollo 7	October 22, 1968	27°32′N 64°04′W / 27.533°N 64.067°W	USS Essex (CVS-9)	3	[20]
18	Apollo 8	December 27, 1968	8°7.5′N 165°1.2′W / 8.1250°N 165.0200°W	USS Yorktown (CVS-10)	2	[21]
19	Apollo 9	March 13, 1969	23°15′N 67°56′W / 23.250°N 67.933°W	USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)	5	[22][23]
20	Apollo 10	May 26, 1969	15°2′S 164°39′W / 15.033°S 164.650°W	USS Princeton (LPH-5)	2.4	[24][25]
21	Apollo 11	July 24, 1969	13°19′N 169°9′W / 13.317°N 169.150°W	USS Hornet (CVS-12)	3.13	[26][27]
22	Apollo 12	November 24, 1969	15°47′S 165°9′W / 15.783°S 165.150°W	USS Hornet (CVS-12)	3.7	[28][29]
23	Apollo 13	April 17, 1970	21°38′S 165°22′W / 21.633°S 165.367°W	USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)	1.85	[30][31]
24	Apollo 14	February 9, 1971	27°1′S 172°39′W / 27.017°S 172.650°W	USS New Orleans (LPH-11)	1.1	[32][33]
25	Apollo 15	August 7, 1971	26°7′N 158°8′W / 26.117°N 158.133°W	USS Okinawa (LPH-3)	1.85	[34][35]
26	Apollo 16	April 27, 1972	0°43′S 156°13′W / 0.717°S 156.217°W	USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)	0.55	[36][37]
27	Apollo 17	December 19, 1972	17°53′S 166°7′W / 17.883°S 166.117°W	USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)	1.85	[38][39]
28	Skylab 2	June 22, 1973	24°45′N 127°2′W / 24.750°N 127.033°W	USS Ticonderoga (CVS-14)		[40]
29	Skylab 3	September 25, 1973	30°47′N 120°29′W / 30.783°N 120.483°W	USS New Orleans (LPH-11)		[41]
30	Skylab 4	February 8, 1974	31°18′N 119°48′W / 31.300°N 119.800°W	USS New Orleans (LPH-11)		[42]
31	ASTP Apollo	July 24, 1975	22°N 163°W / 22°N 163°W	USS New Orleans (LPH-11)	1.3	[43][44]
	Soyuz 23	October 16, 1976	Lake Tengiz	Helicopter Mi-8		[45]

Planned recovery ship **

Unmanned spacecraft

Spacecraft	Agency	Landing Date	Coordinates	Recovery Ship	Miss Distance
Jupiter AM-18	USAF	May 28, 1959	48 to 96 km N Antigua Is	USS Kiowa (ATF-72)	16 km[46]
Mercury-Big Joe	NASA	September 9, 1959	2,407 km SE Cape Canaveral	USS Strong (DD-758)	925 km[47]
Mercury-Little Joe 2	NASA	December 4, 1959	319 km SE Wallops Is, VA	USS Borie (DD-704)	? km[48]
Mercury-Redstone 1A	NASA	December 19, 1960	378.2 km SE Cape Canaveral	USS Valley Forge (CV-45)	12.9 km[49]
Mercury-Redstone 2	NASA	January 31, 1961	675.9 km SE Cape Canaveral	USS Donner (LSD-20)[50]	209.2 km[51]
Mercury-Atlas 2	NASA	February 21, 1961	2293.3 km SE Cape Canaveral	USS Donner (LSD-20)[50]	20.9 km[52]
Discoverer 25	USAF	June 16, 1961	?	US recovery ship	mid-air recovery missed
Mercury-Atlas 4	NASA	September 13, 1961	257.5 km E of Bermuda	USS Decatur (DD-936)	64.4 km[53]
Mercury-Atlas 5	NASA	November 29, 1961	804.7 km SE of Bermuda	USS Stormes (DD-780)	? km[54]
Gemini 2	NASA	January 19, 1965	16°33.9′N 49°46.27′W / 16.5650°N 49.77117°W 3423.1 km downrange from KSC	USS Lake Champlain (CVS-39)	38.6 km[55]
Apollo 201	NASA	February 26, 1966	8°11′S 11°09′W / 8.18°S 11.15°W 8,472 km downrange from KSC	USS Boxer (LPH-4)	? km[56]
Apollo 202	NASA	August 25, 1966	16°07′N 168°54′E / 16.12°N 168.9°E 804.7 km southwest of Wake Island	USS Hornet (CVS-12)	? km[57]
Gemini 2-MOL	USAF	November 3, 1966	8,149.7 km SE KSC near Ascension Is.	USS La Salle (LPD-3)	11.26 km[58]
Apollo 4	NASA	November 9, 1967	30°06′N 172°32′W / 30.1°N 172.53°W	USS Bennington (CVS-20)	16 km[59]
Apollo 6	NASA	April 4, 1968	27°40′N 157°59′W / 27.667°N 157.983°W	USS Okinawa (LPH-3)	? km[60]
Zond 5	USSR	September 21, 1968	32°38′S 65°33′E / 32.63°S 65.55°E	USSR recovery naval vessel Borovichy and Vasiliy Golovin	105 km[61][62]
Zond 8	USSR	October 27, 1970	730 km SE of the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean	USSR recovery ship Taman	24 km[63][64]
Cosmos 1374	USSR	June 4, 1982	17°S 98°E / 17°S 98°E 560 km S of Cocos Islands, Indian Ocean	USSR recovery ship	? km
Cosmos 1445	USSR	March 15, 1983	556 km 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 west of Baja California, Mexico, Pacific Ocean	?	0.8 km[65]
Dragon C2+	SpaceX	May 31, 2012	26°55′N 120°42′W / 26.92°N 120.7°W	?	?[66]
CRS SpX-1	SpaceX	October 28, 2012	?	American Islander[67]	?[68]
CRS SpX-2	SpaceX	March 27, 2013	?	American Islander	?[69]
Exploration Flight Test 1	NASA	December 5, 2014	23°36′N 116°24′W / 23.6°N 116.4°W, 275 miles west of Baja California	USS Anchorage (LPD-23)

Gallery

• 

  The Apollo 15 spacecraft splashed down safely despite a parachute failure. (NASA)

• 

  Apollo 15 splashdown. (NASA)

• 

  Apollo 11 after splashdown. (NASA)

• 

  Apollo 13 hoisted onto ship. (NASA)

• 

  Gemini water egress training.

• 

  Recovery of the Dragon C2+ on May 31, 2012.

• 

  Recovery of the EFT-1 Orion, 5 December 2014

See also

• Apollo program
• Apollo–Soyuz Test Project
• Project Gemini
• Project Mercury
• Skylab
• Dragon
• Zond program
• Water landing

References

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2. http://www.uss-hornet.org/history/apollo/ | USS Hornet Museum's website, "Apollo 11 & 12 Recovery" written by Bob Fish (author of Hornet Plus Three)
3. "Solar System Exploration: News & Events: News Archive: NASA Announces Key Decision For Next Deep Space Transportation System". Solarsystem.nasa.gov. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
4. "Mercury-Redstone 3 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 143, Table 2-30, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
5. "Mercury-Redstone 4 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 144, Table 2-31, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
6. "Mercury-Atlas 6 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 145, Table 2-32, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
7. "Mercury-Atlas 7 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 146, Table 2-33, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
8. "Mercury-Atlas 8 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 147, Table 2-34, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
9. "Mercury-Atlas 9 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 148, Table 2-35, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
10. "Gemini 3 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 159, Table 2-39, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
11. "Gemini 4 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 160, Table 2-40, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
12. "Gemini 5 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 161, Table 2-41, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
13. "Gemini 7 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 162, Table 2-42, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
14. "Gemini 6A Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 163, Table 2-43, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
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21. "Apollo 8 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume II, Programs and Projects 1958-1968; Pg 189, Table 2-53, Landing Point, (NASA SP-4012)
22. "Apollo 9 Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 83, Table 2-37, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
23. "Apollo 9 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 58, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
24. "Apollo 10 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 84, Table 2-38, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
25. "Apollo 10 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 78, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
26. "Apollo 11 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 85, Table 2-39, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
27. "Apollo 11 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 98, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
28. "Apollo 12 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 86, Table 2-40, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
29. "Apollo 12 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 120, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
30. "Apollo 13 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 87, Table 2-41, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
31. "Apollo 13 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 143, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
32. "Apollo 14 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 88, Table 2-42, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
33. "Apollo 14 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 168, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
34. "Apollo 15 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 89, Table 2-43, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
35. "Apollo 15 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 197, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
36. "Apollo 16 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 91, Table 2-44, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
37. "Apollo 16 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 225, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
38. "Apollo 17 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 92, Table 2-45, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
39. "Apollo 17 Miss Distance", Apollo By The Numbers - A Statistical Reference by Richard W. Orloff; Pg 251, Recovery, (NASA SP-2000-4029)
40. "Skylab 2 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 104, Table 2-49, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
41. "Skylab 3 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 105, Table 2-50, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
42. "Skylab 4 Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 105, Table 2-51, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
43. "ASTP Apollo Earth Landing Point", NASA Historical Data Book, Volume III, Programs and Projects 1969-1978; Pg 112, Table 2-54, Earth Landing coordinates, (NASA SP-4012)
44. "ASTP Apollo Miss Distance", ASTP Summary Science Report - Mission Description; Pg 36, Apollo Deorbit and Landing,
45. "Cosmonauts Land in Lake, Blizzard", Milwaukee Journal newspaper, Oct 18, 1976
46. "Animals Survive 1,500-Mile Ride In Rocket Nose", Windsor, ON Canada - Daily Star newspaper May 28, 1959
47. "Big Joe Shot", This New Ocean:A History of Project Mercury,Chapter 7, (NASA SP-4201)
48. "Monkey Completes Long Flight Aloft", Ellensburg, WA - Daily Record newspaper, Dec 4, 1959
49. "Man-In-Space Capsule To Be Closely Studied", Florence, Alabama - Times newspaper, Dec 20, 1960
50. "USS Donner LSD20". Homestead.com. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
51. "Chimp Survives Space Shot", Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper, Feb 1, 1961
52. "Space Capsule Soars 107 Miles High", Florence, Alabama - Times newspaper, Feb 21, 1961
53. "U.S. Orbited, Returned", Meriden, CT - Journal newspaper, Sep 13, 1961
54. "Capsule Trouble Forces Early Landing Of Craft", Toledo, Ohio - Blade newspaper, Nov 29, 1961
55. "Gemini 2 Distance traveled, Landing Point, Miss Distance", Manned Space Flight Network Performance Analysis for the GT-2 Mission; Pg V - Distance traveled, Page 21 - Landing Point, Miss Distance, (NASA X-552-65-204)
56. "Apollo 202 Distance traveled, Landing Point", NASA.com - Apollo-Saturn Unmanned Missions - Mission AS-201
57. "Apollo 202 Distance traveled, Landing Point", NASA.com - Apollo-Saturn Unmanned Missions - Mission AS-202
58. "Titan 3 Gives Spectacular Space Show", Sarasota, FL - Journal newspaper Nov 3, 1966
59. "Apollo 4 Landing Point", NASA.com - Apollo-Saturn Unmanned Missions - Mission Apollo 4
60. "Apollo 6 Landing Point", NASA.com - Apollo-Saturn Unmanned Missions - Mission Apollo 6
61. "Zond 5, Recovery Ship, Miss Distance", Red Moon By Michael Cassutt - page 320, Recovery Ship and Miss Distance.
62. "Zond 5, Landing Point, Miss Distance", NASA Solar System Exploration - Zond 5, Landing Point, Miss Distance.
63. "Zond 8, Recovery Ship, Miss Distance", Soviet and Russian lunar exploration By Brian Harvey - page 218, Recovery Ship and Miss Distance.
64. "Zond 8, Landing Point", NASA Solar System Exploration - Zond 8, Splashdown area.
65. "COTS 1 (SpaceX Dragon 1), Splashdown area", http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20101208, Splashdown area.
66. "History is made as Dragon splashes down safely in the Pacific! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine". Blogs.discovermagazine.com. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
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• NASA Historical Data Book - Volume II - Programs and Projects 1958 - 1968 - NASA SP-4012
• NASA Historical Data Book - Volume III - Programs and Projects 1969 - 1978 - NASA SP-4012