>>>
>>>So, when did the US capsules start landing on dry land?
>>>
>>
>>Started with Columbia in around 1980 I believe, although it could carry more people and equipment than russian capsules..
>
>It's a shuttle, not a capsule. And AFAIR, NASA was having capsules too for all the time before the shuttle.

Soviets would not allow capsules to drop in ocean, crew could decide to swim in wrong direction.