BAJA, Cal. – A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship is returning to Earth May 5 with more than 2 tons of NASA gear from the International Space Station. The capsule's splashdown will cap a busy day for NASA, which began its weekend with a launch to Mars.
The Dragon capsule left the space station this morning at 9:23 a.m. EDT when it was released by the orbiting laboratory's robotic arm. The spacecraft is packed with over 4,000 pounds of experiment samples and other gear for NASA, and is returning to Earth two days late.
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SpaceX and NASA initially scheduled Dragon's return for May 2, but rough seas at the capsule's splashdown zone prompted a delay to await better sea conditions.
Dragon is now due to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 3 p.m. EDT.
The spacecraft's splashdown area is about 400 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, off the coast of Baja California, NASA officials said.