Watching the splashdown of the first manned Dragon capsule
Capitalism in space: NASA yesterday released its broadcast schedule for watching the undocking from ISS and the splashdown of SpaceX’s first manned Dragon capsule, carrying two American astronauts.
The schedule includes preliminary press conferences, the undocking, the splashdown, and the post-recovery press conference, all centered around the planned August 2nd return.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Capitalism in space: NASA yesterday released its broadcast schedule for watching the undocking from ISS and the splashdown of SpaceX’s first manned Dragon capsule, carrying two American astronauts.
The schedule includes preliminary press conferences, the undocking, the splashdown, and the post-recovery press conference, all centered around the planned August 2nd return.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
What a great site, I visit at least once a day.
I do have a minor quibble, though…Dragon is a *spacecraft* and not a *capsule*. A primitive one, to be sure, but it’s a step, and I’d hate to see the misnomer get permanently attached to its undoubtedly more capable successors.
Again, this is a truly outstanding site, thanks for all the hard work.
Brent: Sorry, but it is a capsule, similar in concept to Mercury, Soyuz, Gemini, and Apollo.
You will note that I will never call Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttles a capsule. Nor the X-37B. Nor Starship. There is a difference and it is profound.
Is there a hardened definition of “Spacecraft” or Space Vessel”?
I would think a capsule would fall into a sub category.
This is all semantics I would think.
sippin_bourbon,
Traditionally, the portion of the spacecraft that comes free of the rest of the spacecraft in order to make a safe reentry is called a capsule. Sometimes they are manned, sometimes they return samples. On the Corona spacecraft they returned film.
space cap·sule | ˈspās ˌkapsəl, ˈspās ˌkaps(y)o͝ol |
noun
a small spacecraft or the part of a larger one that contains the instruments or crew.
See also:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/capsule
noun
5. Also called space capsule. Aerospace. a sealed cabin, container, or vehicle in which a person or animal can ride in flight in space or at very high altitudes within the earth’s atmosphere.
For Dragon, the spacecraft includes the manned portion as well as the Trunk portion, which burns up during reentry. However, SpaceX calls the return capsule a spacecraft:
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/dragon/
Common features of space capsules are that they make their final descent on parachutes after a ballistic reentry and have little or no control over their final landing location. Would Robert have called Crew Dragon a capsule or a spacecraft had NASA supported the company’s plan for a powered landing, without parachutes, to a specific landing pad?
The Dream Chaser, the Shuttle Orbiter, (the future) Starliner, and the X-37 have controlled reentry, descent, and landing to specific locations, such as a runway or pad. It is clear that this type of reentry spacecraft is preferred over the capsule type.
Many national space agencies and commercial companies chose to start their manned space programs using capsules, as they are relatively easy and quick to implement. Sierra Nevada chose to begin with a reusable lifting-body spacecraft that lands on a runway. Good for them, but that choice may have lost them a position on phase 1 of the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) flights. Dream Chaser was selected for phase 2 of CRS. Good for NASA.
If its just a can then its a capsule.
If its more, then its anything else you want to call it. Ship, vessel, craft or plane.