SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule splashes down
in Pacific Ocean
Send a link to a friend
[May 12, 2016]
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX
Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday carrying
about 3,700 pounds (1,680 kg) of experiment results and cargo from the
International Space Station, NASA said.
|

A NASA photo shows a SpaceX Dragon capsule as it is released from the
International Space Station in this image released to social media on
May 11, 2016. Courtesy NASA/Handout via REUTERS |
It was the first return load from the station in a year, following
a SpaceX launch accident in June 2015 that destroyed another
unmanned Dragon capsule.
The company’s Dragon capsules are currently the only ships that can
return cargo from the station, a $100 billion research laboratory
that flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, resumed Dragon
flights to the station last month.
Ground controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston earlier
on Wednesday used the station’s robot arm to pluck the unmanned
capsule from its berthing port and position it for release into
space.
British astronaut Timothy Peake, working from inside the space
station’s cupola module, then commanded the crane to free its grip
at 9:19 a.m. EDT/1319 GMT as the station sailed over Australia so
Dragon could begin its ride back to Earth.
 "Dragon spacecraft has served us well. It's good to see it departing
full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back on planet
Earth," Peake radioed to Mission Control in Houston.
The capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 p.m. EDT/1851
GMT, splashing down about 260 miles (420 km) southwest of Long
Beach, California.
Dragon’s returning cargo includes more than 1,000 tubes of blood,
urine and saliva samples from the one-year mission of former U.S.
astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. The
men returned to Earth in March.
[to top of second column] |

Also aboard Dragon is the upper torso and life-support system of the
faulty spacesuit NASA astronaut Tim Kopra wore during a January
spacewalk. The spacewalk was cut short when water began leaking into
his helmet.
NASA has had problems with leaking spacesuits before, including the
near-drowning of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during a July 2013
outing.
Returning Kopra's spacesuit will allow engineers to better
investigate the source of the water, NASA spokesman Daniel Huot
said.
NASA plans to resume spacewalks after the next Dragon capsule
arrives early this summer. The spaceship will carry a new docking
system so that future crewed versions of Dragon, as well as Boeing’s
<BA.N> CST-100 Starliner, can park at the station.
Both capsules, developed in public-private partnerships with NASA,
are scheduled for test flights next year.
(This story has been refiled to correct astronaut's name in
paragraphs 10 and 12)
(Editing by Nick Zieminski and Leslie Adler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |