splashdown
(ˈsplæʃdaʊn)
Also splash-down.
[f. splash- + down adv.]
The alighting of a spacecraft on the sea. Also transf.
| 1961 Washington Post 5 May b2 They [sc. several warships] are strung out about 60 miles apart, and their mission is to retrieve Shepard after ‘splashdown’. Ibid. 6 May a1 The perfect flight, from lift-off to splash-down, lasted only 15 minutes. 1968 [see recovery fleet s.v. recovery 10]. 1968 Guardian 28 Dec. 8/2 From launch to splashdown the Apollo-8 mission went entirely without hitch. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon xiv. 347 The Navy's weathermen had predicted acceptable splash-down conditions. 1978 Times 1 Aug. 2/2 (caption) He [sc. a member of the crew of a balloon] hears the recording of their splashdown transmission. |