SpaceX Returns to Earth; Brings Back Cargo and NASA 'Science'

SpaceX have landed back on Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 pm this Wednesday. NASA said the SpaceX Dragon is carrying critical NASA 'science'. 

According to NASA's report, SpaceX Dragon was detached from the ISS from the Canadarm2 dock at exactly 9:19am of May 11.

 

SpaceX Dragon, Elon Musk's brainchild, went to the ISS for resupply mission. And it has successfully detached from the ISS and re-entered the planet at "about 261 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station" said NASA in a press release.

After the 'delivery' of NASA materials SpaceX will be returned to SpaceX facility in Texas.Astronaut, Tim Peake, gave us a preview of how the spacecraft looked like before embarking on a journey back to Earth.

 

The spacecraft's cargo also included human research samples of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. These are integral for on-going studies including Cardio Ox and Twin Study. NASA said the samples will provide "insights relevant for NASA's Journey to Mars as the agency learns more about how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight".

The resupply spacecraft also delivered data from other studies conducted in microgravity inside the ISS including data for the research on the field of nanotechnology like the Microchannel Diffusion. NASA explained that this technology "examined how microparticles interact with each other and their delivery channel in the absence of gravitational forces."

Elon Musk's SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is the only spacecraft yet to bring that much amount of cargo to space and back to Earth. During the resupply mission, it has carried BEAM, the first inflatable habitable module docked on the ISS and almost 7,000 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo.

According to SpaceX, the Dragon completed its 8^th resupply mission to the ISS called the Commercial Resupply Services 8 (CRS 8). From their website, they said that during re-entry, the spacecraft carried "3,700 lbs of cargo, including 1,300 lbs of science."