SpaceX Dragon leaves space station for flight home
Posted May 31, 2012 09:05:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Dragon spacecraft is on its way home.
Early Thursday morning, space station astronauts set the SpaceX capsule loose after a five-day visit.
The world’s first commercial supply ship is due to splash down in the Pacific at around 11:44 a.m. ET. It will aim for an area 560 miles (900 kilometres) southwest of Los Angeles.
On board are science samples and old station equipment.
Last week, the California-based SpaceX became the first private company to send a cargo ship to the International Space Station. It’s now on the verge of becoming the only supplier to return major items.
The government-provided cargo vessels of Russia, Europe and Japan burn up on descent. NASA lost the capability of getting things back when the shuttles were retired last year.
