# NASA to have first splashdown with crew since 1975 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608 "2020-07-17T20:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/21 "2020-07-28T17:43:18Z")
2:42 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2 is the target for splashdown. they undock on Sat. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/22 "2020-07-28T18:14:55Z")
The last time they were not hard on the new guys led to the Apollo 1 fire and NASA trust Musk as far as they can throw him. Plus the Dragon capsule was pretty heavily redesigned for use, one of the reason why the delays happened.The number of crew was reduced to 4 and the land landing cancelled. It bears not much resemblance to the Crewed Dragon unveiled in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/23 "2020-07-28T18:59:20Z")
On the other hand SpaceX did not kill 300+ people due to a flawed 737 Max that is still grounded 18 months later. Falcon 9 has over 80 good launches. BTW I’m not a fan of Musk, just pointing out some facts. My son worked for Tesla Solar and did not like it. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/24 "2020-07-31T21:20:54Z")
they might be delayed due to the hurricane hitting Florida Might arrive Monday or Tues ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/25 "2020-07-31T21:43:27Z")
They can plan accurate landings on the ground, I wonder where they will bring the capsule down. Will it be brought down by NASA or Spacex? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/26 "2020-07-31T23:38:59Z")
I think NASA calls the shots but they might work together. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/27 "2020-08-01T00:10:30Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The last time they were not hard on the new guys led to the Apollo 1 fire and NASA trust Musk as far as they can throw him. The Apollo 1 fire had nothing to do with being “not hard on the new guys”, and while NASA has historically had some skepticism of SpaceX and Musk, pretty much all that has evaporated away at this point, with their launch going almost flawlessly, but Boeing’s capsule riddled with [80+ design flaws](https://www.space.com/nasa-boeing-starliner-test-flight-investigation-complete.html). It’s Boeing that has to prove themselves at this point; that they can overcome their defective corporate culture and still produce a reliable product. It’s not looking too good for them right now and SpaceX is currently NASA’s golden boy. Despite his occasional Twitter stupidity, Musk has been right about reusability, right about rapid iteration, right about cost-plus contracts, and right about a ton of other stuff. NASA has seen the fruits of that for a while now but we haven’t seen it in such stark contrast as the comparison with Boeing. You usually don’t get all three of “better, faster, cheaper” and yet here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/28 "2020-08-01T15:21:03Z")
SpaceX ships will recover the capsule and astronauts , NASA people will be there too. No Navy ships like they used for Apollo and Mercury and Gemini. They might land in the Gulf of Mexico, that’s probably likely now with the storm. For now still looking like a return Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/29 "2020-08-01T19:34:53Z")
A slight hijack, but here is a [BBC Horizon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSrzFu61HhQ) documentary from 1965/66 with Frank Borman and it illustrates just how cramped the Gemini spacecraft was. Admittedly a modern Gemini might have a tad more room since a lot of the more bulky controls could be dispensed with and they probably would replace ejection seats with couches. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/30 "2020-08-01T21:41:50Z")
they are in the capsule to prepare for splashdown. they are going to make final decision in a few hours. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/31 "2020-08-02T02:32:25Z")
A funny bit came up on the radio. Bob (I think) complained that his tablet wasn’t showing the timeline correctly, and just got the response. Paraphrasing slightly (since it’s from memory): > There’s a problem with the caching due to the lack of connectivity. We expect Doug’s tablet to fail the same way. Can you take a screenshot on Doug’s tablet so that you can still see the timeline, and then Airdrop [Apple direct file transfer feature] that to Bob’s tablet? You’ll have to turn on WiFi; it doesn’t matter that it won’t find a hotspot, it just needs to be on. Also there are some PDFs of the timeline, but you’ll have to bring up Acrobat to access them. Apple tech support to orbit! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/32 "2020-08-02T11:09:03Z")
weather ok so they are due to arrive near pensacola at 2:40 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/33 "2020-08-02T18:11:06Z")
In the home stretch now! Trunk deployed, deorbit burn complete, nosecone closed. Nothing to do besides wait before reentry. BTW, I’m watching this stream: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tSJIQftoxeU/maxresdefault.jpg "Crew Demo-2 | Splashdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJIQftoxeU) ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/34 "2020-08-02T18:24:16Z")
I _thought_ maybe that guy in the front of the mission control consoles looked like it might be Elon Musk himself. Didn’t they manage to eliminate the communications blackout on the Space Shuttles? (IIRC they aimed an antenna _up_ at a communications satellite in orbit, which then relayed the traffic back down to Earth.) I suppose it’s not a terrible important deal, though. There’s nothing anyone on the ground can actually _do_ at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/35 "2020-08-02T18:34:48Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I _thought_ maybe that guy in the front of the mission control consoles looked like it might be Elon Musk himself. Yeah, pretty sure that’s Elon and Gwynne. They’re frequently there for important missions. I see that unlike at NASA, everyone at SpaceX is wearing masks and (mostly) respecting social distancing. Even the announcers seem to have a partition between them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/36 "2020-08-02T18:37:21Z")
I don’t think SpaceX uses the TDRS comm birds. They are probably looking forward to getting Starlink operational. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/37 "2020-08-02T18:42:55Z")
They’re through the blackout and the major part of reentry. Sounded like some wind in the background of Bob’s comms 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/38 "2020-08-02T18:46:28Z")
Woo! All main chutes deployed! Splashdown imminent. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/39 "2020-08-02T18:50:49Z")
Splashdown! Everything seems to be fine, speed boats on the way. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608/40 "2020-08-02T18:54:37Z")
It was Musk and the CEO of SpaceX in the middle front row. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-to-have-first-splashdown-with-crew-since-1975/915608.md?page=3)