HAWTHRONE, CA (Thu, May 31) - THE SpaceX Dragon craft has returned to Earth, ending its
revolutionary voyage to the International Space Station (ISS).
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| Welcome Home, Baby: Says delighted Elon Musk after Dragon splashes back into Pacific |
"Welcome home, baby," said SpaceX's elated chief,
Elon Musk, on Thursday after the Dragon capsule has parachuted into the Pacific
Ocean that ended up a successful mission of ferrying the first private delivery
to the International Space Station (ISS) and pioneers NASA's new approach to space
exploration.
The unmanned capsule parachuted into the Pacific
approximately 805 km off Mexico's Baja California, bringing back more than a
half-ton of old station equipment. It was the first time since the space
shuttles stopped flying last summer that NASA got back a big load from the
orbiting lab.
Splashdown came at 8:42 a.m. (11:42 a.m. ET), about two
minutes earlier than expected, SpaceX and NASA reported. Musk was on hand at
the company’s mission control center near Los Angeles as operators monitored
the descent, and called the mission a “grand slam” in a briefing later
Thursday.
Continue reading and watch the video of Dragon splashing
into Pacific:
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