SpaceX's Helipad-Equipped Boat Will Bring Astronauts Safely Home

Next year when SpaceX starts shuttling astronauts to and from the ISS, the company will be using its Go Searcher ocean vessel to recover SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsules that splash down in the Atlantic Ocean. "The ship is now equipped for a worst-case-scenario with medical treatment facilities and a helipad, in case returning astronauts need to be evacuated quickly to a hospital," reports The Verge. From the report: Go Searcher is part of a fleet of ocean vessels that SpaceX has acquired over the years to aid in its spaceflight efforts. The most famous of these are SpaceX's autonomous drone ships, which are used as landing pads when the company's Falcon 9 rockets are recovered in the ocean after launches. Go Searcher used to accompany these drone ships when they were tugged back to shore as a support vessel. But at the end of summer, SpaceX gave Go Searcher a suite of upgrades -- including the addition of a helipad and a radar dome -- to make sure the boat can swiftly recover Dragon capsules that carry astronauts back to Earth.

As part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX has been developing the Crew Dragon capsule to take astronauts to the ISS. And the company is also responsible for getting these crews safely back to Earth. When astronauts need to return home, the plan is for the Crew Dragon to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. During an ideal mission, Go Searcher will lift the Crew Dragon out of the water with a crane, attached to the end of the boat, according to NASA. The capsule will then be hauled onto the deck of Go Searcher, and the astronauts will be evaluated by doctors from SpaceX and NASA. But if something goes awry during the landing, astronauts can be airlifted directly off the boat via helicopter and taken to a hospital. The helicopter will also carry medical emergency personnel.

Comments

Re:Ha

[DanDD]

Yes, the Russians have been putting people in space since the 1960's.

For a country that has a gross domestic product that falls just behind the US state of Texas, the Russian resolve to stay the course is admirable.

While recent developments in the US launch market will likely make Russian launches too expensive to be competitive once Boeing and SpaceX begin carrying humans in less than a year, I have no doubt that Russian engineers are up to the challenge of creating newer and more competitive systems. I sincerely hope that Russia can come up with something faster, cheaper, and better than SpaceX, or anyone, as this would be competitive progress that would benefit all of humanity.

Good luck in all your peaceful endeavors.

Remember the Hornet

[Bruce Perens]

I remember watching TV of the astronauts being recovered by the Hornet. A ship which housed some 3000 crew, and got about 18 feet per gallon of oil burned. It's in Alameda now (where they keep the naval wessels :-) and you can walk around a lot of it unsupervised, and get a tour of the rest.

It was overkill then, but I am not aware of a smaller helicopter carrier in service back then.

And now, we have a lot better idea of where the capsule is coming down.

Re:Remember the Hornet

[DerekLyons]

It was overkill then, but I am not aware of a smaller helicopter carrier in service back then.

They had the Iwo Jima class LPH's, two of which (USS Guadalcanal (Gemini 10) and USS Guam (Gemini 11)) were used as Gemini recovery vessels. USS Guadalcanal also recovered Apollo 9, USS USS Iwo Jima recovered Apollo 13, USS New Orleans recovered Apollo 14, and USS Okinawa recovered Apollo 15. USS New Orleans also recovered Skylab 3, Skylab 4, and ASTP.

Looking at the Gemini/Apollo missions that were recovered by a full size carrier... One thing immediately leapt out at me - they were all older carriers, WW II leftovers of the Essex class. That's probably because they constituted over half the active carriers at the time more than anything else.

And now, we have a lot better idea of where the capsule is coming down.

According to Apollo By The Numbers the largest miss distance was 3 nautical miles. Most missions missed by no more than 2 nautical miles. The largest distance to the recovery vessel was 13 nautical miles on Apollo 11, the rest were under 4 nautical miles. I can't find any similar compilation for Gemini, but IIRC the numbers were generally similar. (Mercury was all over the place.)

Re:Remember the Hornet

[RockDoctor]

A ship which housed some 3000 crew, and got about 18 feet per gallon of oil burned.

That sounds in the scale for an aircraft carrier? Sounds rather overkill. I can think of around a half-dozen "floatels" ("floating hotels") which include their own medical suites, helipads and hangers, craneage, marine and stewarding personnel (and medical too), which can take complements of 200 to 500. OK, most are on medium- to long-term lease alongside various fixed oil installations and the like to support (re-)construction. But it's a mature market, with assets being shipped between corners of the globe in response to tenders for hire. Certainly worth considering on cost.

BUT, it's not "shiny" - more likely rusty - so it's quite unlikely that the idea would get past the PR department.

Re:Ha

[Bruce Perens]

Do please tell Mr. Rogozin that we have the trampoline he ordered.

Re:Ha

[angel'o'sphere]

For a country that has a gross domestic product that falls just behind the US state of Texas
You should have realized meanwhile that GDP is not really a meaningful number.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... population: 325 million.
https://www.reuters.com/articl... population: 145 million

A meaningful number is how much goods and services are produced by worker/citizen. I live in Thailand, if I'm not working, and work in Germany. The GPD is very different ... the quality of life and even some prices are higher in Thailand ... don't even know how big the difference on GDP is ...

In other words: if a country like Greece doubles its prices for everything (which they stupidly did after joining the Euro zone), they double their GDP ... without doubeling anything.

Re:A thought experiment, a) mass isn't real

[LynnwoodRooster]

OK... Waiting for you to tie this into the Time Cube.

Re:A thought experiment, a) mass isn't real

[TheDarkMaster]

Interesting. I'm just speculating, but would you have described inertia in quite a different way?

Re:A thought experiment, a) mass isn't real

[stealth_finger]

Matter isn't a wave like anything and how do you convert light into matter?

Re: Ha ha, right back at ya

[c6gunner]

It's funny because I think physics became a religion with physicists worshiping Einstein and Bohr and ignoring the basic flaws in the model they are presented.....

It's funny because that's exactly what Gene Ray said ....

Remember Gus

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Seems rather pollyannaish to be looking at capsule and personnel recovery with a skeleton crew. These things don't always go swimmingly, e.g.,

https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/with-every-splashdown-nasa-embraces-the-legacy-of-gus-grissom/

Re: Ha

[Type44Q]

I sincerely hope that Russia can come up with something faster, cheaper, and better than SpaceX, or anyone

"Russian Physics - Now with fewer moving parts!"

Re:A thought experiment, a) mass isn't real

[Applehu Akbar]

If any physicists are around, I have some thought experiments for you.

If I took the time to read this, I wouldn't know where I was now, would I?

Re: Ha

[necro81]

"Russian Physics - Now with fewer moving parts!"

American components, Russian components; all made in Taiwan!

Back to the future ...

[CaptainDork]

... we picked up the Gemini capsules back in the day.

Astronauts Eugene Cernan (left), and Thomas Stafford receive a warm welcome as they arrive aboard the prime recovery ship, the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Wasp. [June 6, 1966]