Ship equipped with SpaceX helicopter will bring astronauts back safely

A newly upgraded SpaceX ship and its crew have just started some funny dress rehearsals, explaining how they would have saved the wounded astronauts after their return to Earth. When SpaceX begins transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station next year, the ocean-going vessel Go Searcher will be responsible for recovering SpaceX's crewed Dragon capsules that burst into the Atlantic Ocean. The ship is now equipped, in the worst case, with medical treatment facilities and a heliport, in case the returning astronauts are to be quickly evacuated to a hospital.

Go Searcher is part of a fleet of ocean ships that SpaceX has acquired over the years to assist in its space flight efforts. The most famous of these are the SpaceX autonomous drones, which serve as landing platforms when the company 's Falcon 9 rockets are recovered in the ocean after launch. Go Searcher had a habit of accompanying these drone ships when they were towed to shore as support ships. But by the end of the summer, SpaceX has provided Go Searcher with a series of upgrades, including the addition of a helipad and a radar dome, in order to ensure that it is safe. ensure that the boat can quickly recover the Dragon capsules that bring the astronauts back to Earth.

As part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX is developing the Crew Dragon capsule to allow astronauts to travel to the ISS. And the company is also responsible for bringing these crews safely back to Earth. When astronauts have to go home, it is expected that the crew dragon will launch into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. During an ideal mission, Go Searcher will lift the watercrew dragon with a crane attached to the end of the boat, according to NASA. The capsule will then be transported to Go Searcher's bridge and the astronauts will be evaluated by SpaceX and NASA physicians.

Image: NASA

But if something goes wrong during the landing, the astronauts can be transported directly by helicopter from the boat and taken to a hospital. The helicopter will also carry emergency medical personnel. In this way, doctors can be present at each stage of the process to help the astronauts eventually to be evacuated from the capsule.

It will take some time before Go Searcher is needed. SpaceX's first Crew Dragon flight is scheduled for January 2019. And the crew Dragon will also be empty for this mission. But if the vehicle's key systems are working properly, the unprepared test flight will be followed by a crewed flight scheduled for June 2019. At the same time, Boeing, the other crew partner NASA commercial, will pilot its capsule, the CST-100 Starliner, for the first time unmanned in March 2019, the crew launch is scheduled for August. However, the Starliner is designed to land on American soil. It is therefore not necessary to have a recovery boat.