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MV ''Megan'', formerly known as MV ''GO Searcher'', 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 fairing recovery vessels and Elon Musk's private jet), this vessel, along with its sister ship, , are converted
platform supply vessel A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil platform, oil and gas platforms and other offshore installations. They typically range from in length and are distinguished by the large open deck area used to st ...
s now equipped to retrieve Crew and Cargo Dragon capsules after
splashdown Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft or launch vehicle in a body of water, usually by parachute. This has been the primary recovery method of American capsules including NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Orion along with th ...
. When a Dragon capsule is preparing to return to Earth, ''Megan'' or ''Shannon'' 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

''Megan'' was built by Master Boat Builders of Coden, Alabama as an
offshore supply vessel A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms and other offshore installations. They typically range from in length and are distinguished by the large open deck area used to store supplies ...
, a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms and other offshore installations. The
keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a shipbuilding, ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel l ...
for the vessel took place in 2009 and was launched in 2010. The vessel was purchased new by Abdon Callais Offshore and named MV ''CALLAIS Searcher.'' As Abdon Callais Offshore's parent company exited the marine transportation business, it sold the vessel to Harvey Gulf International Marine, which renamed it MV ''HARVEY Otter.'' The vessel was sold to Guice Offshore (GO) in 2014, which renamed it MV ''GO Searcher.'' SpaceX had previously retrieved its cargo-only Dragon 1 capsules with a similar offshore supply vessel but needed additional capabilities as it prepared for crewed and cargo launches with the
Dragon 2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which cons ...
. It contracted with Guice Offshore to modify two offshore supply vessels with a capsule lifting frame (a specialized crane), a medical treatment unit, a helipad, and extensive technology upgrades. ''GO Searcher'' was first used on 8 March 2019 to recover the Dragon used for the uncrewed Demo-1 mission. The vessel was also used for an August 2019 rehearsal of Crew Dragon crew extraction with the astronauts that would fly on the Demo-2 mission. However, its sister vessel, MV ''GO Navigator'' (later renamed ''Shannon'') was used to retrieve the astronauts after the Demo-2 flight. Between April 2019 and June 2021, ''GO Searcher'' was used in support of nine missions of the SpaceX fairing recovery program. The vessel can accommodate a single Falcon 9 fairing half in the Dragon egress area. On 19 January 2020, the vessel was used to recover the Crew Dragon capsule after the In-Flight Abort Test. ''GO Searcher'' first recovered a crew from a Dragon capsule on 18 September 2021 when it retrieved after its
Inspiration4 Inspiration4 (stylized as Inspirati④n) was a 2021 human spaceflight operated by SpaceX on behalf of Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman. The mission launched the Crew Dragon Crew Dragon Resilience, ''Resilience'' on 16 September 2021 at 00:02: ...
mission, the first orbital spaceflight with only private citizens aboard. Since that time, it has only been used for recovering Crew Dragon or Cargo Dragon capsules. In early 2022, GO Searcher was renamed Megan in honor of Megan McArthur, the second female NASA astronaut to fly on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.


List of recovery missions


Incidents

* According to
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
, on 9 May 2020, while practicing recovering the
SpaceX Dragon 2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consi ...
capsule, ''GO Searcher''s crew pulled a man from the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
.


Gallery


References

{{Authority control Ships built in the United States Ships built in Alabama SpaceX Dragon 2 Space capsule recovery ships