Why Returning Spacecraft Land in the Ocean — Sometimes

Find out how SpaceX and NASA have brought back splashdowns in a big way.

By Marisa Sloan
May 5, 2023 1:00 PM
Apollo 11 splashdown
Apollo 11 crew and a Navy diver await pickup from the USS Hornet after splashdown in 1969. (Credit: NASA/Public Domain)

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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.

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