‘Good splashdown’ of SpaceX’s Dragon in Pacific carrying cargo from ISS

SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo ship left the International Space Station on Wednesday, carrying 3,700 pounds (1,678 kg) of gear and science experiments, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo ship left the International Space Station on Wednesday, carrying 3,700 pounds (1,678 kg) of gear and science experiments, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

In this photo released by SpaceX, a SpaceX capsule containing science samples from NASA's one-year space station resident, approaches the Pacific Ocean, a few hundred miles off the Southern California coast, Wednesday. (AP)

“Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed,” SpaceX wrote on Twitter, almost five hours after the spaceship was released from the orbiting research lab.

The capsule launched on April 8 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX’s next supply ship is scheduled to depart Earth in June.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule approaches the International Space Station prior to installation in this NASA picture taken on April 10, 2016. (Reuters file photo)

“This cargo includes samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities,” NASA said in a statement.

The spacecraft also contains the final batch of human research samples from the one-year mission completed in March by US astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko.

SpaceX’s Dragon is the only cargo ship capable of returning to Earth intact. The world’s other cargo vehicles burn up on re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.