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The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

The science behind splashdown − an aerospace engineer explains how NASA and SpaceX get spacecraft safely back on Earth

  • Written by Marcos Fernandez Tous, Assistant Professor of Space Studies, University of North Dakota
imageThe Orion capsule from NASA's Artemis I mission splashes down. NASA via AP

For about 15 minutes on July 21, 1961, American astronaut Gus Grissom felt at the top of the world – and indeed he was.

Grissom crewed the Liberty Bell 7 mission, a ballistic test flight that launched him through the atmosphere from a rocket. During the test, he sat...

Read more: The science behind splashdown − an aerospace engineer explains how NASA and SpaceX get spacecraft...

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