Engineering:Megan (ship)
 Megan, one of SpaceX’s two recovery ships, is pictured in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast while awaiting the splashdown of the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: |
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| Namesake: | Megan McArthur |
| Owner: |
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| Operator: |
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| Builder: | Master Boat Builders, Coden, Alabama |
| Launched: | 2009 |
| Completed: | 2010 |
| In service: | 2010 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In service |
| Notes: | [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: |
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| Length: | 51.0 m (167 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draught: | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Depth: | 3.6576 m (12 ft 0 in) |
| Decks: | 1 |
| Installed power: | 1,750 HP |
| Propulsion: | 2 x CAT 3508B Industrial Diesel Engines |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Capacity: | 32 |
| Crew: | 6 |
| Notes: | [1] |
Megan, formerly called GO Searcher is a SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel.[2] It is one of the offshore supply ships operated by Guice Offshore.[3] The other identical ship is Shannon.[4]
History
Megan is the primary recovery vessel for the SpaceX Dragon/SpaceX Dragon 2 after the splashdown. Immediately after splashdown, fast small boats are launched to connect the capsule to the vessel, and the capsule is lifted on board with the large lifting frame installed on the stern. The astronauts can then exit the capsule. NASA has a requirement that this is completed within 60 minutes of splashdown. Facilities onboard include a helipad, a medical treatment unit, and extensive radar communication equipment.[2][5]
Between April and May 2019, GO Searcher was temporarily reassigned with GO Navigator to fairing recovery operations for the ArabSat-6A, and Starlink 0.9 missions.
On August 2, 2020, Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley returned to Earth, landing in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. GO Searcher's sister ship, GO Navigator, pulled the capsule onto her aft, in which Behnken and Hurley exited the capsule.[6]
On September 18, 2021, GO Searcher served as the recovery vessel for the Inspiration4 mission, recovering its all-civilian crew from the Atlantic Ocean.[7]
In early 2022, the vessel was renamed Megan after SpaceX Crew-2 astronaut, Megan McArthur along with GO Navigator being renamed Shannon after SpaceX Crew-1 astronaut, Shannon Walker. They are registered to Falcon Landing LLC, a SpaceX-linked company that also owns recovery ships Bob and Doug and Elon Musk's private jet.
List of recovery missions
| Date | Mission | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 March 2019 | Crew Dragon Demo-1 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 11 April 2019 | ArabSat-6A | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 24 May 2019 | Starlink | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 25 June 2019 | STP-2 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 6 August 2019 | Amos-17 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 11 November 2019 | Starlink-2 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 19 January 2020 | Crew Dragon in Flight abort test | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 11 March 2021 | Starlink 20 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 14 March 2021 | Starlink 21 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 26 May 2021 | Starlink 28 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 6 June 2021 | SXM-8 | Fairing recovery | Non-Catching |
| 18 September 2021 | Inspiration4 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 1 October 2021 | CRS-23 | Cargo Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 24 January 2022 | CRS-24 | Cargo Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 25 April 2022 | Axiom Mission 1 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 20 August 2022 | CRS-25 | Cargo Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 14 October 2022 | Crew-4 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 11 January 2023 | CRS-26 | Cargo Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 31 May 2023 | Axiom Mission 2 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
| 4 September 2023 | SpaceX Crew-6 | Crew Dragon recovery support | Catching |
Incidents
- According to United States Coast Guard, on May 9, 2020, while practicing recovering the SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule, GO Searcher's crew pulled a man from the Atlantic Ocean.[8][9]
Gallery
- GO Searcher Gallery
GO Searcher, in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 miles off Florida's east coast, on March 8, 2019
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Demo-1 spacecraft aboard the company's recovery vessel, GO Searcher, following splashdown at 8:45 a.m. EST on March 8, 2019.
SpaceX Dragon recovery vessel, Megan, at West Basin in Port Canaveral, Florida USA on February 25, 2023.
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Go Searcher". VesselTracker. 2020. https://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Ships/Go-Searcher-9591648.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "GO Searcher" (in en). https://www.spacexfleet.com/go-searcher.
- ↑ "GO SEARCHER Offshore Support Vessel". https://intelligence.marinelink.com/vessels/vessel/go-searcher-323841.
- ↑ "Crew Dragon Recovery" (in en). https://www.spacexfleet.com/dragon-recovery.
- ↑ "Go Searcher – Commercial Crew Program" (in en-US). https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/tag/go-searcher/.
- ↑ Chang, Kenneth (2020-08-02). "'Thanks for Flying SpaceX': NASA Astronauts Safely Splash Down After Journey From Orbit" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/science/spacex-astronauts-splashdown.html.
- ↑ "SpaceX's private Inspiration4 crew returns to Earth with historic splashdown off Florida coast". Space.com. 18 September 2021. https://www.space.com/spacex-inspiration4-returns-to-earth.
- ↑ Thompson, Amy (2020-05-10). "SpaceX recovery team rescues stranded boater during ocean recovery drills" (in en-US). https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-go-searcher-rescue-stranded-boater/.
- ↑ Speck, Emilee (2020-05-08). "Practicing retrieving astronaut spacecraft at sea, SpaceX vessel rescues stranded boater" (in en). https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/05/08/practicing-retrieving-astronaut-spacecraft-at-sea-spacex-vessel-rescues-stranded-boater/.
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