Splashdown! The SpaceX Dragon has returned home safely, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 16:36 UTC (12:36 p.m. EDT) on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. “Recovery ship has secured Dragon,” Tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. “Powering down all secondary systems. Cargo looks A-OK.”
A team of SpaceX engineers, technicians and divers will recover the vehicle off the coast of Baja, California, for the journey back to shore, which NASA said will take 30-48 hours.
The big job will be unloading the 3,000- plus pounds (1,360 kg) of ISS cargo and packaging inside the spacecraft. The Dragon is currently the only vehicle capable of returning cargo and important scientific experiments back to Earth.
“The scientific research delivered and being returned by Dragon enables advances in every aspect of NASA’s diverse space station science portfolio, including human research, biology and physical sciences,” said Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program
scientist. “There are more than 200 active investigations underway aboard our orbiting laboratory in space. The scientific community has
eagerly awaited the return of today’s Dragon to see what new insights the returned samples and investigations it carries will unveil.”
See more images below of Dragon’s return and mission to the ISS; we’ll be adding more as the SpaceX team supplies them!
Here’s a gif image of the splashdown:
Dragon’s release from Canadarm2 occurred earlier today at 10:56 UTC. The Expedition 35 crew commanded the spacecraft to slowly depart from the International Space Station
Among the the scientific experiment returned on Dragon was the Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures (CSLM-3) experiment, which also launched to space aboard this Dragon. CLSM-3 studies how crystals known as dendrites form as a metal alloy becomes solid. The research could help engineers develop stronger materials for use in automobile, aircraft and spacecraft parts.
Dragon also is returning several human research samples that will help scientists continue to examine how the human body reacts to long-term spaceflight. The results will have implications for future space exploration and direct benefits here on Earth.
The mission was the second of at least 12 cargo resupply trips SpaceX plans to make to the space station through 2016 under NASA’s
Commercial Resupply Services contract.
“Splashes down”
Everything that is old, is new again.
Yes it’s ironic except there isn’t some expensive Naval warship burning taxpayer dollars to pick up the capsule. I notice that it is being recovered by a team of “engineers, technicians and divers”, Divers? Surely it doesn’t sink?
Like Shuttle, that “expensive Naval warship” cost the same whether it was used or not.
Not exactly true. Fuel and other costs of operating a Naval vessel is a substantial sum of money that comes out of the O&M budget of the Navy. This was the exact budget being most impacted by sequestration until the new Continuing Resolution was passed. It is true that the sunk cost of the ship and the continued pay for the crew continues whether the thing rusts in port or sails the high seas.
@Shootist the Grasshopper is a game changer. Just wait a little.
Chalk up another success for Space-X! They are starting to make it look easy? or at least routine… Will this capsule be reused on another flight?
I’d like to see research into ‘foamed’ metals aboard the ISS. In zero gee, micro-bubbles injected into liquid/molten metals would make them stronger and lighter?
Reminds ‘me’ of the Gemini & Apollo Space Programs of the 1960’s & ’70’s w/those 3-parachutes. I remember when the human race 1st landed & took our 1st step(s) on our Moon. That was a great time to be alive for a mid-age-teenager dreaming of space exploration. Too kool! PEACE!
what is that dirt on Leonardo (module on the right) and how did it get there?
Alien Graffiti that they tried to remove. 🙂
But it is an interesting observation.
Could be many sources, and exhaust fumes is one of them.
The other things is that someone played with the robotic arm when drunk and missed the grapple port. 😉
Good question! Vented something or other from the ISS itself seems unlikely, but possible? Thruster residue from launch, or ISS ops? Impact from ‘fluffy’ or gaseous orbital debris – someone’s unburnt hydrazine? How about ground handling residue(s)? Now I want to know too, but am leaning toward Russian module venting…
It appears to be some sort of adhesive residue left over from whatever sticker was previously attached. See here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Mplm_in_shuttle.jpg
An alien must have pulled off that sticker. 🙂
Leonardo: reusable Italian cargo carrier, flown on STS-102, 121, 126, 128, 131 and 133. Rafaelo was also flown six times, Donatello was cannibalised to modify Leonardo for attachment to ISS by STS-133 as an add-on habitat and storage module.
it could help engineers develop stronger materials.
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