NASA announced Wednesday that the upgraded SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft successfully splashed at 20:26 EST west of Tampa, Florida. The successful splashdown ended the end of the 21st cargo supply mission to the ISS. The spacecraft transported more than 4,400 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth.
Upgrades to this particular Dragon cargo spacecraft have made the availability of a doubled wardrobe available compared to previous capsules, which could deliver a significant increase in the amount of research experiments for scientists on Earth. The mission was also notable for the very rapid turnaround of experiments from the capsule to scientists waiting in the ground in Florida to begin their research.
NASA says some scientists returned their research within 4 to 9 hours of splashing. There were several experiments on board the spacecraft, including Cardinal Heart. This particular experiment investigated how microgravity causes changes in the workload and shape of the human heart. NASA says it is still unknown whether the changes will become permanent if someone lives in space for more than a year.
Space organogenesis was another experiment returned on board the spacecraft and was an investigation by JAXA to demonstrate the growth of 3D organ buds from human stem cells to analyze changes in gene expression in microgravity. One of the returned experiments was the sextant used in the Sextant Navigation experiment aboard the ISS. Mariners used the sextant for navigation for centuries before modern navigation techniques were developed.
Rodent research-23 was also one of the returned experiments. It studied the function of arteries, veins and lymph structures in the eye and changes in the retina of mice before and after space flight. Rodents were returned to earth in that study. A number of additional experiments were returned in the mission.