Editing Splashdown (section)

==History==
[[File:Apollo14 - Landung.jpg|thumb|left|[[Apollo 14]] returns to Earth, 1971.]]
The splashdown method of landing was used for [[Mercury program|Mercury]], [[Gemini program|Gemini]] and [[Apollo program|Apollo]] (including [[Skylab]], which used Apollo capsules).  [[Soyuz 23]] unintentionally landed on a freezing lake with slushy patches of ice during a snowstorm.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/m4pD1L7hedA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200516214113/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4pD1L7hedA&attr_tag=BUqbSjTAJRrN1ykS%3A6 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4pD1L7hedA|title=The Accidental Spacecraft Splashdown Which Almost Killed Its Crew|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.videocosmos.com/soyuz23.shtm |title=Soyuz-23, Lands On A Frozen Lake |publisher=VideoCosmos |access-date=2012-06-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414220743/http://www.videocosmos.com/soyuz23.shtm |archive-date=2012-04-14 }}</ref>

On early Mercury flights, a helicopter attached a cable to the capsule, lifted it from the water and delivered it to a nearby ship. This was changed after the sinking of ''[[Liberty Bell 7]]''. All later Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules had a flotation collar (similar to a rubber life raft) attached to the spacecraft to increase their buoyancy. The spacecraft would then be brought alongside a ship and lifted onto deck by crane.

After the flotation collar is attached, a hatch on the spacecraft is usually opened. At that time, some astronauts decide to be hoisted aboard a helicopter for a ride to the recovery ship and some decided to stay with the spacecraft and be lifted aboard ship via crane.  All Gemini and Apollo flights (Apollos 7 to 17) used the former, while Mercury missions from Mercury 6 to Mercury 9, as well as all Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz used the latter, especially the Skylab flights as to preserve all medical data. During the Gemini and Apollo programs, NASA used {{MV|Retriever}} for the astronauts to practice water egress.

[[Apollo 11]] was America's first Moon landing mission and marked the first time that humans walked on the surface of another planetary body. The possibility of the astronauts bringing [[pathogen|pathogens]] from the Moon back to Earth was remote, but not ruled out. To contain any possible contaminants at the scene of the splashdown, the astronauts donned special Biological Isolation Garments and the outside of the suits were scrubbed prior to the astronauts being hoisted aboard {{USS|Hornet|CV-12|6}} and escorted safely inside a [[Mobile Quarantine Facility]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uss-hornet.org/history/apollo/ |title=Apollo 11 & 12 Recovery |author=Bob Fish |publisher=USS Hornet Museum's website}}</ref>
[[File:SpaceX CRS 25 Splashdown (1920x1080).webm|thumb|261x261px|The splashdown of the SpaceX CRS-25 resupply mission]]
Both the [[SpaceX Dragon 1]] and [[SpaceX Dragon 2|Dragon 2]] capsules were designed to use the splashdown method of landing.{{efn|Dragon 2 was originally intended to propulsively land using its [[SuperDraco]] engines, but this was abandoned except for contingency in case of parachute failure.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McRea |first1=Aaron |title=Dragon receives long-planned propulsive landing upgrade after years of development |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2024/10/dragon-propulsive-landing/ |website=Nasa Spaceflight |access-date=11 November 2024}}</ref>}} The original cargo Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of [[Baja California]]. At the request of NASA, both the crew and cargo variations of the Dragon 2 capsule splash down off the coast of [[Florida]], either in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] or the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/12/cargo-dragon-heads-for-splashdown-off-floridas-west-coast/|title=Cargo Dragon heads for splashdown off Florida's west coast|publisher=Spaceflight Now|first=Stephen|last=Clark|date=12 January 2021|access-date=14 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-18-016.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-18-016.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=AUDIT OF COMMERCIAL RESUPPLY SERVICES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION}}</ref>

The early design concept for [[Orion (spacecraft)|Orion]] (then known as the [[Crew Exploration Vehicle]]) featured recovery on land using a combination of parachutes and airbags, although it was also designed to make a contingency splashdown if needed. Due to weight considerations, the airbag design concept was dropped for Orion, and it conducts landings via splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=37403 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703185450/http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=37403 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-03 |title=Solar System Exploration: News & Events: News Archive: NASA Announces Key Decision For Next Deep Space Transportation System |publisher=Solarsystem.nasa.gov |date=2011-05-24 |access-date=2012-06-21}}</ref>