Unmanned spacecraft back with lab results
Print Edition
SPACEX’S unmanned Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday carrying a heavy load of NASA cargo and scientific samples from the International Space Station that experts hope could yield significant results.
A boat was ferrying the spacecraft to a port near Los Angeles, where NASA said the haul of 1.5 tons of experiment results and other materials will be removed and returned to the space agency by late today for scientists to pick apart.
Dragon also carried crew supplies, hardware and computer resources.
The investigations in the cargo could help develop more efficient solar cells and semiconductor-based electronics, as well as grow plants better suited for space and improve sustainable agriculture.
“This mission enabled research critical to achieving NASA’s goal of long-duration human spaceflight in deep space,” said Sam Scimemi, director of the International Space Station division at NASA headquarters.
Dragon, which spent a month at the space station, will later travel back for processing to SpaceX’s test facility in McGregor, Texas.
Astronauts at the ISS had manipulated the orbiting lab’s robotic arm to detach Dragon on time, in what NASA called a “very clean release.”
The capsule splashed down five-and-a-half-hours later near the Mexican coast, slowed by three enormous parachutes. The SpaceX vessel is the only spacecraft currently capable of returning from the ISS with cargo.
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