SpaceX to Change Dragon Spaceship's Splashdown Site from Florida to West Coast in 2025
TapTechNews July 29th news, for the upcoming manned space mission of NASA, astronauts may no longer splash down and return to Earth near the east coast of the United States as they used to.
SpaceX announced on July 26th that starting from 2025, the company will transfer the splashdown site of the Dragon spacecraft from the Florida coast to the west coast to reduce the risk of space debris falling on land. This decision was made in cooperation with NASA of the US to deal with the previous several manned missions where space debris fell to Earth.
TapTechNews noted that since the compartment (that is, the cargo hold) on the Dragon spacecraft used for storing fuel and power supply has fallen many times in areas from Australia to North Carolina, etc., causing safety hazards. SpaceX announced at the press conference on July 26th that they will take measures to solve this problem, and starting from the Crew-10 mission, the future Dragon spacecraft will splash down on the Pacific coast.
Previously, NASA had confirmed that in at least five manned missions, debris that should have disintegrated in the atmosphere fell to the Earth's surface. Although these events did not cause casualties or significant property losses, the potential threat cannot be ignored.
Sarah Walker, the director of SpaceX Dragon mission management, said: In order to achieve this change, we will transfer a Dragon recovery ship to the Pacific at some point next year and use SpaceX's facilities in the Port of Long Beach for initial post-flight processing.
SpaceX said that the Pacific region has less severe weather conditions and is more suitable for spacecraft landing. However, setting the launch site in Florida and the landing site on the west coast is a new challenge for the entire operation. The company will closely monitor the impact of this change on the overall operation.
It is worth noting that the refurbishment work after the spacecraft lands will still be carried out at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to ensure that the spacecraft can be reused.