A roadmap to astronauts’ water survival training and strategic rescue post splashdown

Abstract

Planet Earth offers two elements on which a spacecraft can carry out landing – land (touchdown) and water (splashdown). This means that the recovery techniques would have to be divided, and therefore, training to survive both on different terrain conditions and in water would also have to be imparted to the astronauts. Where the Russian Cosmonauts traditionally have been carrying out touchdown with their Soyuz MS space vehicle on the terrains of the Kazakhstan border, the American counterparts have resumed splashdown re-entry with the latest partially reusable SpaceX Dragon Crew Capsule. Astronauts’ water survival training has been a major component of mission preparation. It encompasses both nominal and off-nominal situations that the crew may encounter during their return. This paper highlights various past and present water survival and crew rescue training procedures followed by international space agencies and also attempts to come up with recommendations for water survival training and rescue plans for Indian astronauts-to-be in preparation for the Gaganyaan Mission.