The Dragon delivered a new docking port last month that will be used in another year or two by SpaceX and Boeing, which are developing crew capsules for NASA.
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Release of the spacecraft by the station’s robotic arm will begin the Dragon’s return to Earth carrying more than 3,000 pounds of NASA cargo and science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities sponsored by NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, the nonprofit organization responsible for managing research aboard the USA national laboratory portion of the space station.
A robotic arm released the unmanned capsule packed with 3,000 pounds of cargo at 6:11 a.m. and fired thrusters several times to move a safe distance away.
Some of the experiments conducted on board should enable scientists to better understand the effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body, as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration works toward its goal of sending people to Mars by the 2030s. “Two of those experiments set to return on Friday include the Heart Cells study and Mouse Epigenetics”.
The return of the spacecraft caps the ninth resupply mission for the California-based SpaceX under a contract to ferry goods to the astronauts living at the ISS.
Dragon delivered numerous science experiments on July 20 that space station astronauts immediately unloaded and began working on.
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SpaceX’s Dragon made its grand return to Earth this morning. Other capsules are loaded with trash and burn up when re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
