page_title: Soft landing (aeronautics)
hierarchical_section_title: Soft landing (aeronautics)
caption_attribution_description: English: 1960's -- U.S. Air Force C-119J recovers a CORONA Capsule returned from Space. The C-119J was specially modified for the mid-air retrieval of space capsules re-entering the atmosphere from orbit. On August 19, 1960, this aircraft made the world's first midair recovery of a capsule returning from orbit when it "snagged" the parachute lowering the Discoverer XIV satellite at 8,000 feet altitude 360 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.Deutsch: Eine US-MilitÃ¤rmaschine vom Typ Fairchild C-119J "Flying Boxcar" birgt eine CORONA-Kapsel, die soeben aus dem Weltraum zurückkehrte. Das Flugzeug war speziell dafür konstruiert, Kapseln beim Wiedereintritt in die Atmosphäre in der Luft abzufangen. Am 19. August 1960 gelang es in der Tat erstmals, den Fallschirm einer zurückkehrenden Kapseln in 8000 Fuß Höhe 360 Meilen südwestlich von Honolulu (Hawaii) "an den Haken" zu bekommen.
context_page_description: A soft landing is any type of aircraft, rocket or spacecraft landing that does not result in significant damage to or destruction of the vehicle or its payload, as opposed to a hard landing. The average vertical speed in a soft landing should be about 2 meters per second or less.
  A soft landing can be achieved by
  Parachute—often this is into water.
  Vertical rocket power using retrorockets, often referred to as VTVL
context_section_description: A soft landing is any type of aircraft, rocket or spacecraft landing that does not result in significant damage to or destruction of the vehicle or its payload, as opposed to a hard landing. The average vertical speed in a soft landing should be about 2 meters (6.6 ft) per second or less.
  A soft landing can be achieved by
  Parachute—often this is into water.
  Vertical rocket power using retrorockets, often referred to as VTVL (vertical landing referred to as VTOL, is usually for aircraft landing in a level attitude, rather than rockets — first achieved on a suborbital trajectory by New Shepard and a short-while later on an orbital trajectory by the Falcon 9.
  Horizontal landing, most aircraft and some spacecraft, such as the Space Shuttle, land this way.
  Being caught, as attempted with Genesis (spacecraft) and followed by some other form of landing.
caption: A Corona Spy Sattelite film capsule is caught by a C-119J
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