The manned space capsule holding the 4 person crew returned successfully minutes ago off the coast of southern California. The Navy recovery vessels were perfectly positioned and were moving in on the floating capsule.
The 3 parachutes worked their magic and the capsule survived the re-entry period without incident as the heat shield absorbed all atmospheric friction encountered as it entered the earth's atmosphere. The ceramic shield deflects and absorbs heat generated as the capsule encounters air cover. This an exciting time for NASA and all space vehicles and private companies involved. The new government/private efforts appear to have worked, setting a new page on extraterrestrial investigation and exploration. Despite obvious comparisons with China, the US has made a significant leap ahead of the Communists in Beijing.
Followup interviews with the 4 astronauts will enlighten all involved and open a new era of space travel interest in the US. While not the same as things were in 1972, this is definitely a revolutionary moment given the technological improvements in the last half century. One could say that 1972 was the Dark Ages of space exploration, before computers were resized to a fraction of the sizes used in the late '60's and '70's.Now, simulations can reveal much about designs and execution of plans long before liftoff.
This a "hats off' to all involved in this effort that we know started many years ago. Hear, hear to the crew.
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