(click to enlarge)
The Space X Dragon Resilience capsule successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico at roughly 3 a.m. this morning, the only water landing* of a U.S. spacecraft since the Apollo 8 capsule landing in December 1968 southwest of Hawaii.
The 4 person capsule crew completed a record 167 day mission at the International Space Station.
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* at night
(photos: top, NASA TV via AP, middle and bottom, Bill Ingalls, NASA via AP)
4 comments:
All praise; but it is going to take a disaster to remind people why it is necessary for the government to have a monopoly of adventures like this. It is because no private entity can take responsbility for the consequences if something goes wrong. The word "can" in the preceding sentence does not refer to willingness or to operational capabilities; it refers to a structural lack of national legimitacy. So when NASA forms a "partnership" with a private organization, the private organization winds up with authority without responsibility. If there were still anyone alive who had been taught why that is a bad thing, it would be forbidden in black-letter law.
Frank -- Well said. You've identified the flaw at the heart of government / private "partnerships", including the NASA / SpaceX one. Thank you.
I thought all the Apollo missions had water splash down landings
Davefl -- We should have said splashdown "at night." Good catch.
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