A blunt-body spacecraft section that houses the crew, life support systems, and flight controls. Unlike winged spaceplanes, it relies on a heat shield and parachutes to survive atmospheric re-entry and perform a soft landing or splashdown. It is typically mounted at the top of a launch vehicle and detaches from the service module before returning home.
Heard on the job
The recovery team is tracking the capsule as it descends through fifty thousand feet.
Related terms
Heatshield
A thermal protection system for vehicles entering an atmosphere.
Parachute
A fabric canopy deployed to create aerodynamic drag and slow a falling object.
Re-entry
The phase of a space mission where a vehicle plunges back into a planetary atmosphere.
Spacecraft
Any vehicle designed to fly and operate in outer space.