Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Wednesday August 05 2020, @10:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the "crashed"-landing dept.

Interesting side note to the SpaceX capsule recovery.

Boaters gatecrash SpaceX's 1st splashdown with astronauts. 'We need to do better,' NASA chief says.:

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida Sunday (Aug. 2), returning astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Earth after their historic Demo-2 test flight. But shortly after that splashdown, private boats swarmed the space capsule, apparently hoping for a closer look.

"That was not what we were anticipating," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a post-splashdown briefing. "After they landed, the boats just came in. We need to do a better job next time for sure."

[...] Bridenstine said the U.S. Coast Guard did clear the landing zone ahead of the splashdown, and the landing itself had no issues. The SpaceX recovery ship Go Navigator recovered the capsule about 30 minutes after splashdown, but not before the private boats arrived.

"That capsule was in the water for a good amount of time and those boats just made a beeline for it," Bridenstine said. "There are things that we're going to look at, that we need to do better at, for sure."

SpaceX recovery crews in fast boats worked to push back the encroaching boaters. Still, the private boats could be seen in an arc around SpaceX's Go Navigator as the retrieval team plucked the capsule from the sea.

"The lesson learned here is that we probably need more Coast Guard assets,and maybe more SpaceX and NASA assets as well," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in the post-splashdown briefing. "This was a demonstration mission. This is the time that you go learn about these things, and we'll certainly be better prepared next time."

Previously:
(2020-08-02) Demo-2 Astronauts Safely Splashdown in Gulf of Mexico
(2020-08-01) More Quickly than Anyone Expected, NASA Embraces Reuse for Human Flights
(2020-05-30) Today WAS the Day -- Crew Demo 2 Launch Successful -- Heading to ISS [Updated]


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Snotnose on Wednesday August 05 2020, @10:53PM (3 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @10:53PM (#1031998)

    Machine gun the interlopers, and hope none of them are Black Lives Matter folks. Or major campaign donors on either side.

    / I'm gonna regret this when I sober up
    // fortunately, that's looking to be around thanksgiving
    /// so long as I keep my trap shut (ha!) I'm good to do.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +2  
       Troll=1, Insightful=1, Funny=1, Underrated=1, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   4  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @12:07AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @12:07AM (#1032044)

    RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles.

    • (Score: 2) by Opportunist on Thursday August 06 2020, @06:39AM

      by Opportunist (5545) on Thursday August 06 2020, @06:39AM (#1032168)

      Are you nuts? Do you have any idea how much they cost? It's likely that the weapon costs more than the sorry excuse of a ship you're sinking.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 06 2020, @01:45AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday August 06 2020, @01:45AM (#1032080) Journal

    How many machine guns can be mounted to a Dragon capsule?

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]