Buildup of fuel gases around the capsule could be indicative of a leak somewhere. They let levels fall to rule out such a leak. Opening the hatch could cause inadvertent ignition of any remaining gases. The hatch is also equipped with emergency explosive bolts in case of an emergency exit. All precautions are necessary to make sure needless accidents don’t happen.

Also, astronauts of the past that walked across carrier decks from recovery helicopters in the early years of the space program were spending only a few days or even just a few hours in zero gravity. Astronauts returning today are often coming back from the ISS where they have spent months in zero gravity and are significantly weaker under gravity than they were when they left. Exercise is done on the ISS to counteract this, but it still takes its toll. If you watch the Soyuz capsule recoveries of the past couple decades, the astronauts are helped from the capsule and then placed in big chairs and carried to medical tents. In many cases the astronauts could probably walk to the recovery area, but again, precautions must be taken.

Trump 2020–Keep America–America

The fools trying to usher in communism because “capitalism bad–socialism good” are trying to think they have us fooled.

You can fool some of the people some of the time.

Great Photos.

I kept thinking about the I Dream of Jeanie theme song during the splashdown.

Public/private partnerships work.

I do like your comment Tom Lunsford. Too funny.