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[b]Dragon undocks from space station[/b] Following commands from ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, Dragon undocked from the International Space Station on Sunday (April 28) at 1:10 p.m. EDT (1710 GMT) from the space-facing port of the Harmony module. At the time of undocking, the station was flying at an altitude about 260 miles above Earth. After re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida at 1:38 a.m. EDT (0538 GMT) Tuesday. Dragon is carrying back to Earth more than 4,100 pounds of supplies and scientific experiments designed to take advantage of the space station’s microgravity environment. After splashing down, the experiments will be transferred to NASA's Space Systems Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, where researchers will collect data with minimal sample exposure to Earth's gravity. Scientific hardware and samples returning to Earth include Flawless Space Fibers-1, which produced more than seven miles of optical fiber aboard the space station. The investigation tests new hardware and processes for producing high-quality optical fibers in space and drew more than half a mile of fiber in one day, surpassing the previous record of 82 feet for the longest fiber manufactured in space. Other studies include GEARS (Genomic Enumeration of Antibiotic Resistance in Space), which surveys the space station for antibiotic-resistant organisms. Genetic analysis could show how these bacteria adapt to space, providing knowledge that informs measures designed to protect astronauts on future long-duration missions. Also returning on Dragon is MISSE-18 (Materials International Space Station Experiment-18-NASA), which analyzes how exposure to space affects the performance and durability of specific materials and components. MISSE-18 includes coatings, quantum dots, a lunar regolith simulant composite, and other materials. The samples returning home were exposed to the harsh environment of space for six months. Additionally, samples from Immune Cell Activation will return to Earth for analysis. The ESA (European Space Agency) sponsored experiment seeks to understand whether microgravity influences the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles into immune and melanoma cells. In this experiment, immune cells were modified with nano-vectors that are intended to carry therapeutic agents specifically to their target cells. Results could help develop novel therapeutics targeting central nervous system diseases and skin cancers such as melanoma.
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