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Demo-2 Astronauts Safely Splashdown in Gulf of Mexico

posted by takyon on Sunday August 02 2020, @09:21PM   Printer-friendly

takyon writes:

Demo-2 safely returns Bob and Doug to Earth to conclude historic start to new Commercial Era

NASA and SpaceX have successfully returned NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour. The return to Earth brought an end to the historic first private-company spaceflight of humans to Earth orbit and the commencement of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico came as expected at 2:48 pm EDT (18:48 UTC) off the southern coast of Alabama and southwest of Pensacola, Florida.

The splashdown culminated the historic Demo-2 flight which launched humans into orbit on the first-ever privately owned and operated rocket and spacecraft from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center on 30 May 2020.

The launch marked the first time since the final flight of space shuttle Atlantis in 2011 that humans launched into orbit from the United States, and this historic splashdown was the first landing of a spacecraft with humans on board in the Gulf of Mexico.

Moreso, it marked the first end of mission water landing for a U.S. human space flight since Apollo-Soyuz Test Program in July 1975 and the first global human spaceflight water landing since Soyuz 23 accidentally came down in Lake Tengiz on 16 October 1976.

Also at NASA, Space News, BBC, and Teslarati.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday August 02 2020, @10:00PM (4 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Sunday August 02 2020, @10:00PM (#1030454) Journal

    One of the potential problems is the toxic propellant fumes emanating from the capsule.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/08/02/spacex-return-updates/ [washingtonpost.com]

    The astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., just as schedued at 2:48 p.m. Eastern time. Forty minutes later, the spacecraft was hoisted aboard the recovery ship. But SpaceX technicians delayed opening the side hatch to allow medical crews to evaluate Behnken and Hurley because of concerns about toxic fumes.

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Monday August 03 2020, @12:27AM (3 children)

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Monday August 03 2020, @12:27AM (#1030496)

    You do NOT want to inhale hydrazine [wikipedia.org].

    Also, if you have not read Ignition [sciencemadness.org], please do so.

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    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 03 2020, @06:19PM (2 children)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 03 2020, @06:19PM (#1030832) Journal

      Can hydrazine be used to cure Covid-19?

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2020, @07:14PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03 2020, @07:14PM (#1030876)

        No but intravenous injection of hydrazine will prevent you from ever catching COVID-19 and many other diseases.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday August 04 2020, @04:48PM

        by nitehawk214 (1304) on Tuesday August 04 2020, @04:48PM (#1031281)

        If you inhale a few grams of hydrazine, you will not die of COVID-19.

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