So, how much slower at spacecraft recovery was Orion compared to SpaceX? Looking at Artemis stream splashdown is 1:39:30 1st crew out at 3:02:58, 4th crew out at 3:06:59. SpaceX DM-2 landing at 6:28:04 1st crew at 7:46:48, 2nd at 7:50:33 Orion 1:27:29 Dragon 1:22:29 So, 5 minutes slower.

@DJSnM It wasn't just the time until the crew exited the capsule that seemed way too long, it was the time spent floating out there on the "porch" waiting for helicopter recovery, and that (seemingly unnecessary) step itself that rankled.

@ShalFarley @DJSnM Total time until on helicopters was 1:41. Total time until on deck was 1:47 (so 25 minutes longer than SpaceX). They had high current, had to photograph the headshield under water, and comms issues. Entirely possible it is 20-30 min faster in A3.

Interesting about the current. I noticed in the shots from the recovery ship, while waiting for the crew, that it had a wake and appeared to be underway. I wondered if that was the case, or if it was merely station-keeping. It felt like the recovery ship could have traversed the distance to the capsule in the time they spent floating on the porch, eliminating the need for the helicopters. But I didn't have an overview of the distances or map of their relative locations for reference.