Why does this boat have a landing pad? (SpaceX's GO Searcher) Any plans for propulsive capsule landings?
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The BBC News article SpaceX Dragon demo capsule set to return to Earth talks about the return of the first Crew Dragon capsule to Earth:
Four parachutes should bring it into soft contact with water about 450km from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Splashdown is expected at about 08:45 EST (13:45 GMT). A boat, called GO Searcher, will be waiting to recover the capsule.
Question: Splashdown sounds like it lands in the water, but the "boat" has a big SpaceX landing pad on top. Why? And why does it say "17" in three orientations?
The GO Searcher vessel is tasked with picking Dragon crew capsules out of the water. NASA
Are there any plans for this to be used for propulsively-guided capsule landings in the future?
spacex landing recovery
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The BBC News article SpaceX Dragon demo capsule set to return to Earth talks about the return of the first Crew Dragon capsule to Earth:
Four parachutes should bring it into soft contact with water about 450km from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Splashdown is expected at about 08:45 EST (13:45 GMT). A boat, called GO Searcher, will be waiting to recover the capsule.
Question: Splashdown sounds like it lands in the water, but the "boat" has a big SpaceX landing pad on top. Why? And why does it say "17" in three orientations?
The GO Searcher vessel is tasked with picking Dragon crew capsules out of the water. NASA
Are there any plans for this to be used for propulsively-guided capsule landings in the future?
spacex landing recovery
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
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@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The BBC News article SpaceX Dragon demo capsule set to return to Earth talks about the return of the first Crew Dragon capsule to Earth:
Four parachutes should bring it into soft contact with water about 450km from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Splashdown is expected at about 08:45 EST (13:45 GMT). A boat, called GO Searcher, will be waiting to recover the capsule.
Question: Splashdown sounds like it lands in the water, but the "boat" has a big SpaceX landing pad on top. Why? And why does it say "17" in three orientations?
The GO Searcher vessel is tasked with picking Dragon crew capsules out of the water. NASA
Are there any plans for this to be used for propulsively-guided capsule landings in the future?
spacex landing recovery
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
$endgroup$
The BBC News article SpaceX Dragon demo capsule set to return to Earth talks about the return of the first Crew Dragon capsule to Earth:
Four parachutes should bring it into soft contact with water about 450km from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Splashdown is expected at about 08:45 EST (13:45 GMT). A boat, called GO Searcher, will be waiting to recover the capsule.
Question: Splashdown sounds like it lands in the water, but the "boat" has a big SpaceX landing pad on top. Why? And why does it say "17" in three orientations?
The GO Searcher vessel is tasked with picking Dragon crew capsules out of the water. NASA
Are there any plans for this to be used for propulsively-guided capsule landings in the future?
spacex landing recovery
spacex landing recovery
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
edited 5 hours ago
uhoh
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
asked 6 hours ago
uhohuhoh
37.7k18138481
37.7k18138481
2
$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago
2
2
$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
$begingroup$
@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
1
1
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
No, the pad will not be used for propulsive capsule landings. As requested by NASA, SpaceX have stopped pursuing propulsive capsule landing. The landing legs have been removed from the design, for instance.
The pad is for a helicopter:
Most notably, GO Searcher is being fitted with a helipad that will be used to rapidly transfer astronauts from Crew Dragon to Cape Canaveral, where they will go through a number of medical evaluations and debriefings after a six-month stay in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For Cargo Dragon flights, NASA has a requirement to late load certain experiments, and upon landing, quickly retrieve them. As you can imagine some experiments are very time sensitive to get the best results.
The landing zones are not usually all that close to shore, so by ship it can take many hours to days to bring the capsule back and get into it.
The helicopter pad shown allows for flying the samples back. In this case the samples happen to be people who landed in the Crew Dragon.
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
$endgroup$
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
No, the pad will not be used for propulsive capsule landings. As requested by NASA, SpaceX have stopped pursuing propulsive capsule landing. The landing legs have been removed from the design, for instance.
The pad is for a helicopter:
Most notably, GO Searcher is being fitted with a helipad that will be used to rapidly transfer astronauts from Crew Dragon to Cape Canaveral, where they will go through a number of medical evaluations and debriefings after a six-month stay in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
No, the pad will not be used for propulsive capsule landings. As requested by NASA, SpaceX have stopped pursuing propulsive capsule landing. The landing legs have been removed from the design, for instance.
The pad is for a helicopter:
Most notably, GO Searcher is being fitted with a helipad that will be used to rapidly transfer astronauts from Crew Dragon to Cape Canaveral, where they will go through a number of medical evaluations and debriefings after a six-month stay in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
No, the pad will not be used for propulsive capsule landings. As requested by NASA, SpaceX have stopped pursuing propulsive capsule landing. The landing legs have been removed from the design, for instance.
The pad is for a helicopter:
Most notably, GO Searcher is being fitted with a helipad that will be used to rapidly transfer astronauts from Crew Dragon to Cape Canaveral, where they will go through a number of medical evaluations and debriefings after a six-month stay in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
$endgroup$
No, the pad will not be used for propulsive capsule landings. As requested by NASA, SpaceX have stopped pursuing propulsive capsule landing. The landing legs have been removed from the design, for instance.
The pad is for a helicopter:
Most notably, GO Searcher is being fitted with a helipad that will be used to rapidly transfer astronauts from Crew Dragon to Cape Canaveral, where they will go through a number of medical evaluations and debriefings after a six-month stay in orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
edited 3 hours ago
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
answered 3 hours ago
HobbesHobbes
92.9k2258413
92.9k2258413
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
1
1
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
$begingroup$
Definitely a chopper pad, it's too close to the crew for a propulsive landing.
$endgroup$
– GdD
43 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For Cargo Dragon flights, NASA has a requirement to late load certain experiments, and upon landing, quickly retrieve them. As you can imagine some experiments are very time sensitive to get the best results.
The landing zones are not usually all that close to shore, so by ship it can take many hours to days to bring the capsule back and get into it.
The helicopter pad shown allows for flying the samples back. In this case the samples happen to be people who landed in the Crew Dragon.
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For Cargo Dragon flights, NASA has a requirement to late load certain experiments, and upon landing, quickly retrieve them. As you can imagine some experiments are very time sensitive to get the best results.
The landing zones are not usually all that close to shore, so by ship it can take many hours to days to bring the capsule back and get into it.
The helicopter pad shown allows for flying the samples back. In this case the samples happen to be people who landed in the Crew Dragon.
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
For Cargo Dragon flights, NASA has a requirement to late load certain experiments, and upon landing, quickly retrieve them. As you can imagine some experiments are very time sensitive to get the best results.
The landing zones are not usually all that close to shore, so by ship it can take many hours to days to bring the capsule back and get into it.
The helicopter pad shown allows for flying the samples back. In this case the samples happen to be people who landed in the Crew Dragon.
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
$endgroup$
For Cargo Dragon flights, NASA has a requirement to late load certain experiments, and upon landing, quickly retrieve them. As you can imagine some experiments are very time sensitive to get the best results.
The landing zones are not usually all that close to shore, so by ship it can take many hours to days to bring the capsule back and get into it.
The helicopter pad shown allows for flying the samples back. In this case the samples happen to be people who landed in the Crew Dragon.
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
answered 29 mins ago
geoffcgeoffc
55.5k10162309
55.5k10162309
add a comment |
add a comment |
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$begingroup$
Has the look of a helicopter landing pad. Perhaps to fly future astronauts back to land or for medivac operations. See here for more info...
$endgroup$
– BobT
6 hours ago
$begingroup$
@BobT I've modified the question a bit just now, thank you
$endgroup$
– uhoh
5 hours ago
1
$begingroup$
The numeral '17' may be the load limit in thousands of pounds. According to Wikipedia, "Rooftop helipads sometimes display a large two-digit number, representing the weight limit (in thousands of pounds) of the pad. In addition, a second number may be present, representing the maximum rotor diameter in feet". It's not a rooftop, but it's plausible that the numerals indicate the same limits...
$endgroup$
– BobT
5 hours ago