Miami: SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo ship left the International Space Station on May 12, carrying 3,700 pounds (1,678 kilograms) of gear and science experiments, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
Dragon's carrying back to Earth thousands of pounds of science and research cargo for @NASA. https://t.co/XbCVPGwLuR pic.twitter.com/3fjTSYSlOv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 11, 2016
"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed," SpaceX wrote on Twitter, almost five hours after the spaceship was released from the orbiting research lab.
Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, carrying thousands of pounds of @NASA science and research cargo back from the @Space_Station.
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 11, 2016
The capsule launched on April 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX's next supply ship is scheduled to depart Earth in June.
Dragon's carrying back to Earth thousands of pounds of science and research cargo for @NASA. https://t.co/XbCVPGwLuR pic.twitter.com/3fjTSYSlOv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 11, 2016
"This cargo includes samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities," NASA said in a statement. The spacecraft also contains the final batch of human research samples from the one-year mission completed in March by US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko.
Dragon recovery team on site after nominal splashdown in Pacific. pic.twitter.com/824c3YpaYG
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 11, 2016
SpaceX's Dragon is the only cargo ship capable of returning to Earth intact. The world's other cargo vehicles burn up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.
