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SpaceX's Dragon splashes down after trip to space station

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule is released from the International Space Station on Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of NASA
A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule is released from the International Space Station on Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of NASA

April 7 (UPI) -- SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, carrying live mice, cells of plants grown in space and spacesuits to be examined and refurbished.

The mission was the 20th cargo trip for SpaceX, and the last for its original cargo Dragon. A second-generation Dragon will be used going forward, according to SpaceX.

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"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing the 20th and final @Space_Station resupply mission for SpaceX's first iteration of the Dragon spacecraft!" SpaceX said on Twitter.

The capsule had launched from Florida on March 6, and was released from the space station at 9:06 a.m. EDT. SpaceX publicly confirmed the splashdown at 2:55 p.m.

After firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station, the capsule left orbit and headed to its parachute-assisted splashdown 300 miles southwest of Long Beach, Calif.

The capsule had carried about 4,300 pounds of science experiments and equipment to the station, and returned with just over 4,000 pounds, according to NASA.

A Russian Soyuz capsule is scheduled to be launched to the station Thursday morning from Kazakhstan. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, SpaceX and NASA have said they are planning the first Crew Dragon launch to the station, while carrying two astronauts, in May.

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