Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
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July 24, 2020
Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasa-s-spacex-demo-2-return
The seven potential splashdown sites for Crew Dragon are off the coasts of Pensacola, Tampa, Tallahassee, Panama City, Cape Canaveral, Daytona, and Jacksonville.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard, is currently targeted to undock from the space station on Saturday, Aug. 1 and splash down on Sunday, Aug. 2. [weather may cause that to change - W]
That led me to wonder why the Apollo CM splashdowns were targeted so far out to sea and to check their accuracy. Turns out they could have been targeted to be as close to the Florida coast as Crew Dragon:
06-21-19
When Apollo space capsules splashed down, they were so accurate, it scared NASA
Talk about sticking the landing. Imagine flying 580,000 to the Moon and back and landing within two miles of your target in the middle of the ocean.
https://www.fastcompany.com/9036655...hed-down-they-were-so-accurate-it-scared-nasa
Headed for the Moon, with the scientists, engineers, and programmers at MIT who designed the computers and the navigation equipment listening in real time in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Apollo computer performed flawlessly. Apollo 8’s capsule entered lunar orbit less than a mile off the calculated trajectory, out of 240,000 miles. The navigation was so perfect that when the coordinates were called off on the squawk box from Mission Control, the room in Cambridge erupted in cheers.
Coming home, the computer’s ability to fly the spacecraft was just as perfect. In fact, the computer performed so well, it caused a problem—and provoked a cautionary memo.
Bill Tindall was a senior NASA official in Houston, a good-humored genius of space navigation and mission planning. Part of his job was to make sure the spaceships got to exactly where NASA wanted them to go.
After Apollo 8’s splashdown, Tindall wrote what was for him a slightly testy letter to Jerry Hammack, NASA’s head of recovery operations, explaining the problem and the solution.
“Jerry, I’ve done a lot of joking about the spacecraft hitting the aircraft carrier,” Tindall wrote, “but the more I think about it the less I feel it is a joke. There are reports that the [Apollo 8] command module came down right over the aircraft carrier, and drifted on its chutes to land only 4,572 meters (2.8 miles) away. This really strikes me as being too close. The consequence of the spacecraft hitting the carrier is truly catastrophic. I seriously recommend relocating the recovery force at least 5 to 10 miles from the target point.”
Apollo 8 had flown 580,000 miles and landed just 1.6 miles from its target point in the Pacific Ocean—while literally passing right over the aircraft carrier Yorktown on its way into the ocean. So close, then, that the man in charge of all that navigation wanted the U.S. Navy to stand off the aircraft carriers so that future spaceships didn’t accidentally land right on the flight deck.
As it would turn out, Apollo 8 set the standard for that kind of landing accuracy.
Eight more Apollo missions flew all the way to the Moon and back. Only three landed two miles or more from their target point in the ocean. Four landed 1.5 miles from the target or less. Apollo 14 landed just 0.7 miles from its target.
Top 10 Things to Know for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Return
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/top-10-things-to-know-for-nasa-s-spacex-demo-2-return
The seven potential splashdown sites for Crew Dragon are off the coasts of Pensacola, Tampa, Tallahassee, Panama City, Cape Canaveral, Daytona, and Jacksonville.
The SpaceX Dragon Endeavour, with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard, is currently targeted to undock from the space station on Saturday, Aug. 1 and splash down on Sunday, Aug. 2. [weather may cause that to change - W]
That led me to wonder why the Apollo CM splashdowns were targeted so far out to sea and to check their accuracy. Turns out they could have been targeted to be as close to the Florida coast as Crew Dragon:
06-21-19
When Apollo space capsules splashed down, they were so accurate, it scared NASA
Talk about sticking the landing. Imagine flying 580,000 to the Moon and back and landing within two miles of your target in the middle of the ocean.
https://www.fastcompany.com/9036655...hed-down-they-were-so-accurate-it-scared-nasa
Headed for the Moon, with the scientists, engineers, and programmers at MIT who designed the computers and the navigation equipment listening in real time in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Apollo computer performed flawlessly. Apollo 8’s capsule entered lunar orbit less than a mile off the calculated trajectory, out of 240,000 miles. The navigation was so perfect that when the coordinates were called off on the squawk box from Mission Control, the room in Cambridge erupted in cheers.
Coming home, the computer’s ability to fly the spacecraft was just as perfect. In fact, the computer performed so well, it caused a problem—and provoked a cautionary memo.
Bill Tindall was a senior NASA official in Houston, a good-humored genius of space navigation and mission planning. Part of his job was to make sure the spaceships got to exactly where NASA wanted them to go.
After Apollo 8’s splashdown, Tindall wrote what was for him a slightly testy letter to Jerry Hammack, NASA’s head of recovery operations, explaining the problem and the solution.
“Jerry, I’ve done a lot of joking about the spacecraft hitting the aircraft carrier,” Tindall wrote, “but the more I think about it the less I feel it is a joke. There are reports that the [Apollo 8] command module came down right over the aircraft carrier, and drifted on its chutes to land only 4,572 meters (2.8 miles) away. This really strikes me as being too close. The consequence of the spacecraft hitting the carrier is truly catastrophic. I seriously recommend relocating the recovery force at least 5 to 10 miles from the target point.”
Apollo 8 had flown 580,000 miles and landed just 1.6 miles from its target point in the Pacific Ocean—while literally passing right over the aircraft carrier Yorktown on its way into the ocean. So close, then, that the man in charge of all that navigation wanted the U.S. Navy to stand off the aircraft carriers so that future spaceships didn’t accidentally land right on the flight deck.
As it would turn out, Apollo 8 set the standard for that kind of landing accuracy.
Eight more Apollo missions flew all the way to the Moon and back. Only three landed two miles or more from their target point in the ocean. Four landed 1.5 miles from the target or less. Apollo 14 landed just 0.7 miles from its target.
