An unmanned SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft has splashed down off the coast of Florida, having returned from the International Space Station (ISS) carrying a range of scientific experiments.
At 2:53 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 20, the ship came down splashing into the ocean near Cape Canaveral, capping up SpaceX’s 25th cargo mission to the ISS. The Cargo Dragon detachment from the ISS’s Harmony module occurred at 11:00 a.m. ET on Friday, August 19, and travelled back to Earth over the day and overnight before landing on Saturday afternoon.
The Dragon has been at the ISS for for a month, arriving on Saturday, July 15 with about 4,000 pounds of science research and supplies for the ISS crew. The spacecraft transported roughly 4,000 pounds of cargo back to Earth on the return leg of its voyage, including the findings of different scientific experiments done on the space station.
Components of a spacesuit, or Extravehicular Mobility Unit, were among the components returned to Earth following an incident in March this year in which a leak allowed water to collect inside the helmet of European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer during a spacewalk. Although NASA informed the public that Maurer was not in any danger from the water, the event did result in the suspension of spacewalks while the matter was studied. Parts of Maurer’s spacesuit have been returned to the Dragon spacecraft for “additional investigation and to address any possible modifications that may be required,” according to NASA. The agency further stated, “The crew remains in good health, continuing their activities on the station, and there are no planned U.S operating segment spacewalks in the near future.”
Other components in the Dragon include the findings of a research into how various materials and components withstand the orbital environment, such as spacesuit cooling system, parts for future spacecraft and wearable radiation protection as well as an experiment into using “bio-inks” to create band-aids made from a patient’s own cells if they are wounded on the station.
image credits: NASA
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