''MV Shannon'', formerly known as ''MV GO Navigator'', is one of

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

's two

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

capsule recovery vessels. Owned by SpaceX through Falcon Landing LLC (which also owns SpaceX's faring recovery vessels and Elon Musk's private jet), this vessel, along with her sister ship, , is designed to retrieve Crew and Cargo Dragon capsules after splashdown. When a Dragon capsule is preparing to return to Earth, ''Shannon'' or ''Megan'' are dispatched to wait near the predetermined landing zone. After splashdown, fast boats deployed from the vessel, approach the capsule to perform safety checks, check on the crew, and prepare it to be lifted aboard the recovery vessel, where the astronauts can exit the capsule. NASA requires SpaceX to allow the astronauts to exit within 60 minutes of splashdown. To support its mission, the vessel is equipped with a specialized crane on the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

to pull the capsule up from the water, a medical unit to treat astronauts, and a

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

to allow astronauts and any time-sensitive cargo materials returned from space to be quickly returned to shore.

History

''GO Navigators services were procured by

as a quick transport vessel, as a back-up to '' GO Searcher'' in the event of any technical failures. In 2018 and 2019, the vessel and its crew were deployed for several hours of training to prepare for the recovery of the Dragon 2 capsules and their astronauts. The vessel executed the recovery operations during the Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test. Between April and May 2019, ''GO Navigator'' was temporarily re-assigned to fairing recovery operations for the ArabSat-6A, Starlink 0.9, STP-2, and Amos-17 missions. The vessel played a key role in the recovery operation of

's first crewed mission – Crew Dragon Demo-2. along with ''

Megan Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in ...

''. Both the vessels are identical and equipped with a medical treatment facility,

, lifting frame, etc. ''GO'' stands for Guice Offshore, the owner and operator of these types of vessels. In early 2022, the vessel was renamed ''Shannon'' after SpaceX Crew-1 astronaut Shannon Walker, along with ''GO Searcher'' being renamed ''Megan'' after SpaceX Crew-2 astronaut Megan McArthur. They are registered to Falcon Landing LLC, a SpaceX-linked company that also owns recovery ships Bob and Doug and Elon's private jet. The Vessel is being moved to the West Coast of the United States in December 2024 to support the Crew Dragon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, due to the capsule's trunk falling into a populated area. It will go through the port of Long Beach in California, the same location that the droneship Of Course I Still Love You has been since 2021, which was moved to the California coast to support Vandenderg launches and landings.

List of recovery missions

Mission overview

Demo-2

For the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission, the ''GO Navigator'' had a broken backup generator; however it still completed its mission and recovered the ''Endeavour'' capsule from the sea. The recovery was impeded by private boats which circled the capsule in the water.

References

External links