Most American launch sites are on the coast. (Think Cape Canaveral.) But have you ever wondered why, for more than a decade, spacecraft returned to water, too?
Splashdown, the term for landing capsules or other spacecraft in a body of water with the help of parachutes, was NASA’s preferred method prior to the invention of the Space Shuttle. Now, in the era following it, we may be revisiting splashdowns as the best way to get astronauts home safely.
Here’s everything that entails.
Splashdown Mechanics: Aerobreaking
Upon reentry, spacecraft must slow down from an initial speed somewhere in the ballpark of 17,000 miles per hour to … well, a speed that the astronauts aboard could survive when hitting the planet’s surface.
