Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki
why did the Russians always land their missions on land whereas the USA returned to earth in the sea?
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A few reasons:
The interior of Mother Russia is far removed from the prying eyes of the free world. The Soviets usually didn't announce the end of missions until the capsule was safely back on earth so they could hide any failures.
Returning over land requires slower descent speed to avoid bouncing, which requires bigger parachutes. That meant more weight, fuel, complexity, etc.
The interior of the US is more populated than Russia. The landing zones of early missions, even when on target, were not that precise: at least 2 miles radius. There was a large possibility of going way off target too. The Americans felt the risk of hitting a populated area, or getting tangled in power lines or other infrastructure was just too great.