SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday (Oct. 28) at 2:22 p.m. CDT (1922 GMT) about 250 miles off the coast of Baja Calif., marking a successful conclusion to the first contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Photo credit: SpaceX
"With a big splash in the Pacific Ocean today, we are reminded American ingenuity is alive and well and keeping our great nation at the cutting edge of innovation and technology development," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Congratulations to SpaceX and the NASA team that supported them and made this historic mission possible."
The Dragon capsule will be taken by boat to a port near Los Angeles, where it will be prepared for a return journey to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing. Some cargo will be removed at the port in California and returned to NASA within 48 hours. This includes a GLACIER freezer packed with research samples collected in the orbiting laboratory's unique microgravity environment. These samples will help advance multiple scientific disciplines on Earth and provide critical data on the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. The remainder of the cargo will be returned to Texas with the capsule.
The ability to return frozen samples is a first for this flight and will be tremendously beneficial to the space station's research community. Not since the space shuttle have NASA and its international partners been able to return considerable amounts of research and samples for analysis.
Returning with the Dragon was 1,673 pounds of cargo, including 163 pounds of crew supplies, 866 pounds of scientific research, and 518 pounds of hardware.
Photo credit: SpaceX
"This historic mission signifies the restoration of America's ability to deliver and return critical space station cargo," said SpaceX CEO and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Elon Musk. "The reliability of SpaceX's technology and the strength of our partnership with NASA provide a strong foundation for future missions and achievements to come."
The mission was the first of at least 12 cargo resupply missions to the station planned by SpaceX through 2016 under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.