A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship ended a monthlong stay at the International Space Station on Saturday and made a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. <\/p>\n
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore used the stations robotic crane to release the capsule, built and operated by California-based SpaceX, as the two vehicles soared 260 miles (418 kilometers) over Australia. <\/p>\n
\"Dragon is free,\" mission commentator Rob Navias said during a NASA broadcast. <\/p>\n
Several hours later, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon made a parachute descent into the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles (500 kilometers) west of Mexico's Baja California. \"Splashdown is confirmed!\" SpaceX tweeted. <\/p>\n
The capsule carried about 3,800 pounds (1,724 kilograms) of science experiments and equipment no longer needed aboard the station. It blasted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 21 with more than 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) of food, supplies, experiments and equipment including a prototype 3-D printer and 20 live mice that are being used in medical experiments to assess bone and muscle loss during long-duration spaceflights. <\/p>\n
Dragon also delivered a $26 million NASA science instrument called RapidScat that was attached to the outside of the station to measure wind speeds over the oceans. <\/p>\n
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. resupply the space station under the terms of commercial contracts totaling $3.5 billion. Orbital is due to launch a Cygnus freighter toward the station on Monday. <\/p>\n
First published October 25 2014, 9:54 AM <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read this article: <\/p>\n
SpaceX Dragon Comes Home After Mouse Delivery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship ended a monthlong stay at the International Space Station on Saturday and made a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Barry Wilmore used the stations robotic crane to release the capsule, built and operated by California-based SpaceX, as the two vehicles soared 260 miles (418 kilometers) over Australia. \"Dragon is free,\" mission commentator Rob Navias said during a NASA broadcast Continue reading