SpaceX Cargo Capsule Leaves Space Station For Home 56
An anonymous reader writes "The commercial cargo ship Dragon left the International Space Station, and is heading home with nearly two tons of science experiments and old equipment. From the article: 'The unpiloted Dragon departed the International Space Station at 9:26 a.m. EDT to begin a trip expected to culminate just after 3 p.m. with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles west of Baja California. NASA astronaut and station commander Steve Swanson controlled a 58-foot robotic arm that pulled the Dragon from its Harmony node port at 8 a.m., then released the capsule into space 266 miles over the ocean south of Australia.'"
Slashdown confirmed (Score:5, Informative)
Splashdown. Status below -
http://spaceflightnow.com/falc... [spaceflightnow.com]
Re:Some calculations (Score:2, Informative)
Should be noted that the capsule was physically full. It could have carried more mass but the average density of the cargo isn't that high so it would seem that it could've taken more up while in fact it took a full load.
When resupplying the ISS, it is not all about up/downmass. Physical dimensions also matter and some cargo is lighter than others.