Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by crewed American space capsules prior to the Space Shuttle program, by the SpaceX Dragon 1 and Dragon 2 capsules and by NASA's Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle. It is also possible for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to land in water, though this is only a contingency. The only example of an unintentional crewed splashdown in Soviet history is the Soyuz 23 landing.
Apollo 15 makes contact with the Pacific Ocean.
Apollo 14 returns to Earth, 1971.
The Apollo 15 spacecraft splashed down safely despite a parachute failure. (NASA)
Apollo 15 splashdown (NASA)
Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown"a or "splashdown" as well. A normal aircraft flight would include several parts of flight including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent and landing.
Landing of Hawker Sea Fury FB 10
Piper Cherokee landing sequence from approach to flare
A drag chute is deployed by Space Shuttle Endeavour during landing
