Mikkel Christensen
American and Russian space missions may reach orbit in similar ways, but they return to Earth very differently.
American and Russian space missions may reach orbit in similar ways, but they return to Earth very differently.
According to BGR, the reason U.S. spacecraft splash down in the ocean while Russian capsules land on solid ground comes down largely to geography.
Different landings
Since the early days of NASA, American spacecraft have typically returned by parachuting into the ocean.
The water helps absorb impact while recovery crews retrieve astronauts and capsules at sea.
Russian Soyuz spacecraft, however, are designed to land in remote open fields instead.
Most Soyuz missions touch down in Kazakhstan after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Geography matters
Although Russia has a massive coastline, much of it borders the Arctic Ocean.
That makes ocean recoveries far more dangerous and difficult compared to operations near U.S. coastlines.
The United States benefits from easier access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans alongside a large naval presence.
Russia instead relies on vast stretches of sparsely populated land for spacecraft recovery operations.
Harder touchdowns
Because Soyuz capsules land on solid ground, they require additional systems to soften impact.
Small retrorockets fire just before touchdown to dramatically reduce descent speed.
Even with those systems, astronauts have often described Soyuz landings as extremely rough.
Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli once compared the experience to “a head-on collision between a truck and a small car,” according to the European Space Agency.
Rare splashdown
Only one crewed Soyuz mission ever ended in a water landing.
That mission, Soyuz 23 in 1976, accidentally came down in a partially frozen lake.
The crew reportedly remained trapped inside the capsule for around nine hours during the dangerous recovery operation.
The incident reinforced why Russian spacecraft continued relying on land-based recoveries instead of ocean splashdowns.
Modern spaceflight
Today, American spacecraft including SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules still primarily return through splashdowns.
NASA recovery teams work with military and naval crews to retrieve astronauts from the ocean after landing.
Modern astronauts have described those water landings as intense but relatively smooth compared to older capsule systems.
The contrast highlights how geography helped shape two very different approaches to human spaceflight.
Sources: BGR, ESA, NASA, CBS News, Sky News
