''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 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, ''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 MV ''Megan'', formerly known as MV ''GO Searcher'', is one of SpaceX's two Dragon 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 ...

'' 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 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 ...

capsules and their

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

. The vessel executed the recovery operations during the

Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test The Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test (also known as Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration) was a successful test of the SpaceX Dragon 2 abort system, conducted on 19 January 2020. It was the final assessment for the Crew Dragon capsule and F ...

. Between April and May 2019, ''GO Navigator'' was temporarily re-assigned to fairing recovery operations for the

ArabSat-6A Arabsat-6A is a geostationary communications satellite operated by Arabsat. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems on a modernized A2100 bus. The satellite was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A aboard Falcon ...

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...

0.9,

STP-2 The Space Test Program (STP) is the primary provider of spaceflight for the United States Department of Defense (DoD) space science and technology community. STP is managed by a group within the Advanced Systems and Development Directorate, a d ...

, and

Amos-17 AMOS-17 is an Israeli commercial communications satellite, part of the AMOS series of satellites. History Spacecom, the AMOS satellites operator, announced in December 2016 that it has signed a US$161 million contract with Boeing to build ...

missions. The vessel played a key role in the recovery operation of

's first crewed mission –

Crew Dragon Demo-2 Crew Dragon Demo-2 (officially Crew Demo-2, SpaceX Demo-2, or Demonstration Mission-2) was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named '' Endeavour'', launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carr ...

. 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 SpaceX Crew-1 (was also known as USCV-1 or simply Crew-1) was the first operational crewed flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft and the maiden flight of the Crew Dragon Resilience, Crew Dragon ''Resilience'' spacecraft. It was ...

astronaut

Shannon Walker Shannon Walker (born June 4, 1965) is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space. She returned to space for ...

, along with ''GO Searcher'' being renamed ''Megan'' after

SpaceX Crew-2 SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a SpaceX Dragon 2, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 Coordinated Univers ...

astronaut

Megan McArthur Katherine Megan McArthur (born August 30, 1971) is an American oceanographer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Megan McArthur has flo ...

. 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 Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

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

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