Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft or launch vehicle in a body of water, usually by parachute. This has been the primary recovery method of American capsules including NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Orion along with the private SpaceX Dragon. It is also possible for the Boeing Starliner, Russian Soyuz, and the Chinese Shenzhou crewed capsules to land in water in case of contingency. NASA recovered the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters (SRBs) via splashdown, as is done for Rocket Lab's Electron first stage.
Dragon is a family of spacecraft developed and produced by American private space transportation company SpaceX.
Katherine Megan McArthur is an American oceanographer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Megan McArthur has flown one Space Shuttle mission, STS-125 and one SpaceX mission, SpaceX Crew-2 on Crew Dragon Endeavour. She is known as the last person to be hands on with the Hubble Space Telescope via the Canadarm. McArthur has served in a number of positions including working in the Shuttle Avionics Laboratory (SAIL). She is married to fellow astronaut Robert L. Behnken.
Robert Louis Behnken is an American engineer, a former NASA astronaut, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office.
Douglas Gerald Hurley is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and former NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 and STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program. He launched into space for the third time as commander of Crew Dragon Demo-2, the first crewed spaceflight from American soil since STS-135 and became, together with Bob Behnken, the first astronaut in history launching aboard a commercial orbital spacecraft. He was also the first Marine to fly the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. His call sign is "Chunky", and he was sometimes referred to by this name on the communication loops.
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2, also known as Dragon C2+, was the second test-flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Cargo Dragon spacecraft. It launched in May 2012 on the third flight of the company's two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The flight was performed under a funded agreement from NASA as the second Dragon demonstration mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The purpose of the COTS program is to develop and demonstrate commercial sources for cargo re-supply of the International Space Station (ISS). The Dragon C2+ spacecraft was the first American vehicle to visit the ISS since the end of the Space Shuttle program. It was also the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous and berth with another spacecraft.
Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module, has two variants: the 4-person Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the Dragon 1 cargo capsule. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown.
Crew Dragon Demo-1 was the first orbital test of the Dragon 2 spacecraft. The mission launched on 2 March 2019 at 07:49:03 UTC, and arrived at the International Space Station on 3 March 2019, a little over 24 hours after the launch. The mission ended with a splashdown on 8 March 2019 at 13:45:08 UTC.
Crew Dragon Demo-2 was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named Endeavour, launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carried NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station in the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and the first ever operated by a commercial provider. Demo-2 was also the first two-person orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since STS-4 in 1982. Demo-2 completed the validation of crewed spaceflight operations using SpaceX hardware and received human-rating certification for the spacecraft, including astronaut testing of Crew Dragon capabilities on orbit.
SpaceX Crew-1 was the first operational crewed flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the maiden flight of the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft. It was also the second crewed orbital flight launch by the United States since that of STS-135 in July 2011. Resilience launched on 16 November 2020 at 00:27:17 UTC on a Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), carrying NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, along with JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, all members of the Expedition 64 crew. The mission was the second overall crewed orbital flight of the Crew Dragon.
MV Shannon, formerly known as MV GO Navigator, is one of SpaceX's two Dragon capsule recovery vessels. Owned by SpaceX through Falcon Landing LLC, this vessel, along with its sister ship, MV Megan, is designed to retrieve Crew and Cargo Dragon capsules after splashdown.
Crew Dragon Resilience is the second operational Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX, after the Endurance. It first launched on 16 November 2020 to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first operational flight of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. It was subsequently used for Inspiration4 in 2021, the first private spaceflight mission with an all-civilian crew, and the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024. It is scheduled to next operate the private Fram2 spaceflight mission in 2025.
Crew Dragon Endeavour is the first operational Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX. The spacecraft is named after Space ShuttleEndeavour. It first launched on 30 May 2020 to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission. It has subsequently been used for the SpaceX Crew-2 mission that launched in April 2021, the private Axiom Mission 1 that launched in April 2022, the SpaceX Crew-6 mission that launched in March 2023, and the SpaceX Crew-8 mission from early March 2024 to late October 2024. As of November 2024, Endeavour holds the single-mission record for the most time in orbit by an American crewed spacecraft at 235 days.
SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on 24 April at 09:08 UTC.
Dragon C208 is the first Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, and the first in a line of International Space Station resupply craft which replaced the Dragon capsule, manufactured by SpaceX. The mission is contracted by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It flew for the first time on the CRS-21 mission on 6 December 2020. This was the first flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016. This was also the first time a Cargo Dragon was docked at the same time as a Crew Dragon spacecraft. This mission used Booster B1058.4.
Crew Dragon C205 is a Crew Dragon capsule manufactured and built by SpaceX. It completed its only flight on January 19, 2020, with the Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test mission where the capsule detached from the Falcon 9 B1046 booster at max q using the SuperDraco abort thrusters. This was done to test the functionality of the abort thrusters in an operational rocket launch.
Dragon C209 is the second Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, and the second in a line of International Space Station resupply craft which replaced the Dragon capsule, manufactured by SpaceX. The missions are contracted by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It was being flown for the first time on the CRS-22 mission on 3 June 2021. This was the second flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016. This was also the second time a Cargo Dragon was docked at the same time as a Crew Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX Crew-2. This mission used a new Booster B1067.1.
Dragon C211 is the third Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, and the third in a line of International Space Station resupply craft which replaced the Dragon capsule, manufactured by SpaceX. The missions are contracted by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It flew for the first time on the CRS-26 mission in November 2022.
SpaceX Crew-8 was the eighth crewed operational NASA Commercial Crew flight and the 13th overall crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission launched on 4 March 2024.
Crew Dragon being lifted from the water and onto the vessel after the Demo-1 mission, 8 March 2019
Crew Dragon sits on the vessel, about 200 miles off Florida’s east coast, after the Demo-1 mission, 8 March 2019
Crew Dragon sits on the vessel, after the Demo-1 mission, 8 March 2019
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley (left) and Bob Behnken (right) on the vessel, rehearsing Crew Dragon crew extraction with teams from NASA and SpaceX, 13 August 2019. The ship would later be named after the wife of Behnken, Megan McArthur, who would fly on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission.
The vessel, now named Megan, at its home port at the West Basin in Port Canaveral, Florida on 25 February 2023.
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