Doug Hurley

[Rotorooter]

One of the first astronauts to go into space in a private rocket!!! Another first for a Tulane alum. First Super Bowl TD, first heart bypass operation, now this!

[TUPF]

An unabashed tribute to our little Tulane NROTC unit at the intersection of McAlister and Freret: Class of 81 grad David Berger is the current Commandant of the Marine Corp, the service’s highest ranking officer; and Class of 88 grad Doug Hurley was a Marine F-18 pilot, Navy test pilot, and veteran of two US space shuttle flights, and now one of the first two commercially launched US astronauts.

Godspeed today, Mr. Hurley!

[TUPF]

Congratulations COL Hurley for a flawless return to space aboard a US launch vehicle after 9 years.

Roll Wave Roll!

[MattK]

Today he issued the command to start engines for the NASCAR race from the space station.

[TUPF]

He and his shipmate are scheduled to return to Terra Firma on 2 August.

[TUPF]

Coming home today with a 1:41 PM CT scheduled splashdown near Pensacola, FL, the first ocean splashdown in 45 years.

https://apple.news/A0yZTftFOQH6WwKi3_i_60Q

[PeteRasche]

Coming home today with a 1:41 PM CT scheduled splashdown near Pensacola, FL, the first ocean splashdown in 45 years.

https://apple.news/A0yZTftFOQH6WwKi3_i_60Q

Saw a story earlier this morning that they were concerned about possible effects of the tropical storm but that may have changed in only the few hours since it was posted.

[TUPF]

Coming home today with a 1:41 PM CT scheduled splashdown near Pensacola, FL, the first ocean splashdown in 45 years.

https://apple.news/A0yZTftFOQH6WwKi3_i_60Q

Saw a story earlier this morning that they were concerned about possible effects of the tropical storm but that may have changed in only the few hours since it was posted.

Yes, they were so apparently that’s why a Gulf splashdown was chosen.

There were seven possible landing sites along the Florida coast; three in the Atlantic Ocean are in the path of Tropical Storm Isaias.

[TUPF]

Flawless splashdown at 2:48 PM ET in the Gulf just off of Pensacola. Sea state zero, no wind. Just going through checks before fast boats approach Dragon and offload the two astronauts.

Well done, Tulanian Hurley!

[AO Sig]

They have taken an hour to get him out; I don't remember it taking so long to get them out of the spacecraft when I watched the splashdowns of Gemini and Apollo capsules as a kid. Anyone know if he was related to some of the other Hurleys who went to Tulane?

[Yankeewave]

at least he didn't Gus Grissom it.

[TUPF]

They have taken an hour to get him out; I don't remember it taking so long to get them out of the spacecraft when I watched the splashdowns of Gemini and Apollo capsules as a kid. Anyone know if he was related to some of the other Hurleys who went to Tulane?

Good question about the Hurley connection and I’m sure someone here would know.

I was watching the NASA feed and remember them talking about the protocol for using offgassing sniffers to ensure there was no issues with the Dragon potentially caused by remaining fuels. Since this was the first time going from start to finish with a manned commercial capsule I’m sure there was an abundance of caution and would suspect it will be a bit quicker to get the sniffer inspection completed next time. Reminds me of the precautions we take on a nuclear submarine upon surfacing and prior to letting people topside: a RADCON tech first performs a radiological survey topside to ensure nothing is amiss. Do we expect anything? No, but just in case. If the Dragon sniffers had found anything that’s an indication of a whole bigger problem.

Secondly, unlike the days of old when the US Navy ran space capsule recovery, there was no giant helicopter in the air as soon as the parachutes were sighted and frogmen jumping into the sea to ensure the capsule flotation devices were functioning, and tethers attaches to lift the capsule out of the water to an awaiting aircraft carrier. Capsule hatches were quickly opened then and astronauts extracted and hoisted up by basket into a hovering helo. This time it was “fast boats” which might travel 40-50 kits max which still takes a good 30-60 minutes to get all lashed up and in position.

I did note that there were way too many pleasure craft in the area which is both a safety issue and a security issue. They are going to have to do a better job next time if splashdown is anywhere close to shore like today was. If it were a Navy operation there would be gunboats keeping gawkers away like what happens now for any ship movement but a commercial operation needs to rethink this. People on pleasure craft will do stupid things.

[tulaneoutlaw]

at least he didn't Gus Grissom it.

Grissom didn't do anything wrong. The hatch ejector latch was truly faulty and he was unfairly labeled with that stigma. This was proven on a later mission when fellow Mercury astronaut, Wally Schirra, stayed in his capsule until it reached the deck, then jettisoned the escape hatch manually. Schirra ended up with a massive bruise on his hand while Grissom had no such injury. There was no way Grissom could have panicked and manually pressed the button without getting a bruise.

BTW, Grissom would have almost certainly been the first man on the moon if he hadn't perished in the Apollo 1 fire.