SpaceX Dragon splashdowns will not happen off the coast of Florida, as the corporate confirmed it will start transfer the method to the West Coast beginning subsequent yr.
A transfer that intends to cut back the dangers of particles reentering from the Dragon capsule’s trunk part, SpaceX stated that the splashdowns will now happen off the California coast.
Lengthy Seaside Mayor Rex Richardson confirmed SpaceX’s intentions in a Tweet earlier this week:
Excited to share a House Seaside replace! Lengthy Seaside would be the new residence to @SpaceX’s Dragon restoration vessel as their West Coast Restoration Operations workforce primarily based out of the @portoflongbeach will welcome again each @NASA and different personal astronauts who’re returning to Earth from… pic.twitter.com/5G5hidM4sQ
— Workplace of Mayor Rex Richardson (@LongBeachMayor) July 28, 2024
The Dragon capsule is used to fly astronauts and cargo to and from Earth’s orbit, and has been a predominant piece of apparatus used to ship items to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) as part of a contract SpaceX has with NASA.
SpaceX has used the East Coast for Dragon splashdowns for 5 years. Particles has been a priority and because of this, SpaceX is mixing it up.
The corporate stated:
“When creating Dragon’s present reentry operations, SpaceX and NASA engineering groups used industry-standard fashions to know the trunk’s breakup traits. These fashions predicted that the trunk would totally fritter away as a result of excessive temperatures created by air resistance throughout high-speed reentries into Earth’s environment, leaving no particles. The outcomes of those fashions was a figuring out consider our resolution to passively deorbit the trunk and allow Dragon splashdowns off the coast of Florida. In 2022, nevertheless, trunk particles from NASA’s Crew-1 mission to the Worldwide House Station was found in Australia, indicating the {industry} fashions weren’t totally correct with reference to giant, composite buildings comparable to Dragon’s trunk. SpaceX and NASA reviewed the info and carried out extra supplies testing to higher perceive the trunk’s break-up traits and enhance the respective modeling.”
After a evaluate, SpaceX decided the most effective plan of action can be to push the splashdowns again to the West Coast.
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