[ad_1]
Cargo Dragon is the only ISS supply spacecraft that can return cargo to Earth.
Experimental mice and 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine that had been on the ISS for a year returned to Earth.
The American cargo spacecraft Cargo Dragon, which was unleashed from the International Space Station (ISS), landed in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday. This was announced by the development company SpaceX on Thursday, January 14.
“The dragon flood has been confirmed,” the company said in a statement. Twitter.
A soft landing of the descent capsule using a parachute system took place at 03:27 from Kiev in the Gulf of Mexico west of Florida, Interfax notes. A SpaceX search and rescue vessel with a helicopter on board was in the landing zone, which, after lifting the capsule from the water, will deliver it to land.
Cargo Dragon brought two tons of cargo to Earth, including the results of scientific experiments carried out on the ISS. In particular, the experimental mice returned to Earth, as well as 12 bottles of Bordeaux wine that were on the ISS for a year to study the effect of the space environment on sedimentation and other chemical processes in it.
The ship splashes for the first time in the Atlantic. All previous landings took place in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. As NASA noted, the current option will allow for faster delivery of research materials to scientists at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Cargo Dragon is currently the only ISS supply spacecraft capable of returning cargo to Earth.
In all, the spacecraft stayed on the ISS for more than a month. On December 6, it was launched into orbit by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle, launched from the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. The next day, it docked with the ISS, delivering around three tons of food, equipment, and materials to the station for up to 250 science experiments by the station’s crew.
This is the 21st flight of SpaceX’s “truck” to the ISS and the first mission of its modified version (Cargo Dragon 2), which is now capable of delivering 20% more cargo to the ISS, and can also be docked from autonomously to the station without the traditional grip of the manipulator arm. Canadarm2 for later mooring, like the previous ships.
The new cargo spacecraft is designed for five flights to the ISS and returns to Earth instead of three in the Cargo Dragon 1 variants. It can stay at the station for 75 days, compared to 40 days for the previous “truck.” .
As a reminder, on January 6, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft was unleashed from the ISS. A fire will now be set on board the “truck” to study the fire spread conditions in the ship’s cabin under the Saffire project.
News of Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel https://t.me/korrespondentnet
[ad_2]
