SpaceX capsule splashes down after 3-week mission
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule splashed down about 250 miles west of Baja California on Tuesday after spending more than three weeks on a NASA mission.
When the unmanned cone-shaped capsule hit the water at 9:34 a.m. PDT, it marked the end of the mission carried out by the Hawthorne company, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
The privately built and operated spacecraft docked with the International Space Station two days after its March 1 launch.
“Splashdown! At 9:34am PT, #Dragon splashed down safely in the Pacific. Welcome home!” the company tweeted Tuesday.
The crew of the space station sent the capsule back in the predawn hours for a trip that lasted about five hours.
After the capsule re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, its three main parachutes billowed open about five minutes before splashdown. The orange-and-white-striped parachutes, each 116 feet in diameter, slowed the craft’s descent to about 12 mph.
The craft bobbed in the water until two 24-foot rigid-hull inflatable boats and a 100-foot ship equipped with a crane recovered it. The capsule is set to arrive Wednesday night at the Port of Long Beach.
“Recovery ship has secured Dragon. Powering down all secondary systems. Cargo looks A ok,” SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted.
The Dragon capsule returned with about 2,668 pounds of science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities from the space station, NASA said. The cargo will be delivered to the space agency.
SpaceX’s mission began with the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon capsule, from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The capsule was packed with more than 1,200 pounds of food, scientific experiments and other cargo for delivery to the six crew members aboard the space station.
Shortly after blastoff, the Dragon experienced a thruster issue as it orbited the Earth. But in a matter of hours, engineers resolved the problem with the thrusters, which help maneuver the capsule. It later docked with the station.
The resupply-and-cargo-return mission was SpaceX’s second of 12 under a $1.6-billion contract with NASA. The first was in October; a demonstration mission took place in May.