Boater with Trump Flag Gatecrashes SpaceX Craft Splashdown

Boater with Trump Flag Gatecrashes SpaceX Craft Splashdown

When is the last time being a supporter of a president carried with it such a fun factor? In quite an unprecedented sight, a private boater bearing a Trump 2020 flag piloted past a SpaceX capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on Sunday. It returned astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to Earth after their historic Demo-2 test flight. One NASA administrator, however, didn’t join in the fun with so many boats coming close to the craft in an apparent attempt to get a closer look.

“That was not what we were anticipating,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a post-splashdown briefing. “After they landed, the boats just came in. We need to do a better job next time for sure.”

SpaceX hoists the Demo-2 Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour from the Gulf of Mexico while private boaters watch nearby off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on Aug. 2, 2020.

(Image credit: NASA TV)

Private boaters, one bearing a Trump flag, approach close to SpaceX's Demo-2 Crew Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley shortly after its splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the Pensacola, Florida coast on Aug. 2, 2020.

(Image credit: NASA TV)

This aerial view of SpaceX's Demo-2 Crew Dragon capsule recovery shows a ring of private boaters around the spacecraft shortly after splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on Aug. 2, 2020.

(Image credit: NASA TV)

NASA TV views of the Crew Dragon showed many recreational boaters encroaching on SpaceX’s recovery zone, some of them floating quite close to the capsule. One of the boats had a Trump flag as it circled the capsule, while another had an American flag.

Bridenstine said the U.S. Coast Guard did clear the landing zone ahead of the splashdown, and the landing itself had no issues. The SpaceX recovery ship Go Navigator recovered the capsule about 30 minutes after splashdown, but not before the private boats arrived.

“That capsule was in the water for a good amount of time and those boats just made a beeline for it,” Bridenstine said. “There are things that we’re going to look at, that we need to do better at, for sure.”

https://twitter.com/IrishMaga/status/1290003645900009473
Source: Space


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