Return Of SpaceX 'Dragon' Cargo Capsule Delayed Because Of Weather (VIDEO)

Concerns of inclement weather have delayed the return to Earth of the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship by one day, NASA announced Friday.

The unmanned Dragon vessel, carrying about 2,700 pounds of equipment, hardware and scientific experiments, is now scheduled to splashdown off the coast of Baja California on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 26.

"The additional day spent attached to the orbiting laboratory will not affect science samples scheduled to return aboard the spacecraft," NASA officials wrote in a Friday update.

It will take about 30 hours for the Dragon to undock from the International Space Station and complete its return to Earth, where it will be retrieved in from the Pacific Ocean by a crane-equipped barge and returned to the Port of Los Angeles before being loaded onto a truck and hauled to SpaceX's facility in McGregor, Texas.

The return of the Dragon was delayed due to concerns of high seas, which would might have hindered the splashdown and recovery of the spacecraft. If conditions are unsuitable on March 26, the Dragon's return will be pushed back to April 1.

Among the Dragon's cargo is an advanced cooling system called the GLACIER freezer, which contains samples that have been in cold storage at the ISS since the Dragon capsule was last there in October of last year. A previous GLACIER freezer lost power due to water intrusion when the Dragon splashed down last year, according to a report.

Returning to Earth on schedule from the ISS has been a challenge in recent days.

The return of three astronauts from the space station was delayed earlier this month because of foul weather at the landing site in Kazakhstan.

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