updates
Dragon splashdowns move back to the Pacific
On July 26, 2024, SpaceX said Dragon trunks were surviving reentry in pieces and that splashdowns would return to the U.S. West Coast so the trunk could be aimed at the ocean.
Topics: space-civilization
This page is an original Muskularity summary. It does not republish SpaceX’s full post. Figures are the company’s statements on the cited date unless another primary link is named.
Summary
SpaceX said it would move Dragon recovery back to the Pacific. The trunk, the unpressurized section that carries power and cooling hardware, is discarded before the crew capsule splashes down. On the first 21 missions the trunk stayed attached through the deorbit burn and was released to a planned Pacific impact. From 2019, recoveries moved to the East Coast, closer to Kennedy processing and to NASA in Florida. That change meant releasing the trunk before the deorbit burn, so it reentered somewhere along an orbit over the following days or months. Industry models used by SpaceX and NASA had predicted a full burn-up.
In 2022, trunk pieces from Crew-1 were found in Australia. SpaceX said additional material tests showed the models were wrong for large composite structure. Most later debris still fell at sea, but in the six months before this post SpaceX learned of three cases on land. It said it knew of no injuries or structural damage from those pieces.
Immediate steps, agreed with NASA as SpaceX described them: stop disposing of trunk payloads on the way home, because an empty trunk is more likely to burn up, and change some trunk materials. The lasting fix chosen over a redesign or a trunk propulsion system: deorbit first, then drop the trunk, so it hits uprange of the capsule off California. A recovery ship would move to the Pacific and use Port of Long Beach facilities. Crew and cargo would pass through California. Refurbishment would stay mainly at Kennedy. SpaceX said it was still evaluating exact California sites with NASA, the FAA, and other federal agencies.
Key facts
| Fact | Label |
|---|---|
| Trunk debris from Crew-1 found in Australia in 2022 | Company account of the discovery |
| Three further land finds in the six months before the post; no injuries known to SpaceX | Company account |
| Corrective path: deorbit burn before trunk separation, West Coast splashdown | Company operational decision |
| Dragon described as having flown 45 missions to orbit by this post | Company tally |
Why it matters
Crew return is part of the safety case that runs from Demo-2 through certification. This post is SpaceX saying a disposal method used since 2019 was based on a model the hardware had disproved, and naming the operational change.
On this site
Sources
- SpaceX update, July 26, 2024 — Grade A, company post
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