SpaceX Dragon to return this week carrying 2.5 tonnes of ISS science & supplies

After delivering more than 2500 kilograms of science and supplies, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is set to depart the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth on Friday.

The spacecraft will depart the ISS, carrying with it critical scientific research , at 10.07 PM IST and splash down in the Pacific Ocean at about 3:47 AM on Saturday, NASA said in a statement.

The spacecraft will bring along science samples from human and animal research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities, the statement said.

Dragon will also be returning a Latching End Effector that was removed from the station’s robotic arm to be refurbished on Earth and returned to the orbiting complex as a spare.

NASA will receive time-sensitive samples and begin working with researchers to process and distribute them within 48 hours of splashdown.

Dragon was launched on 29 June on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida and arrived at the station on 2 July, for the company’s 15th NASA-contracted commercial re-supply mission to the station.

Expedition 54 Flight Engineer Serena Aunon, Chancellor of NASA, will monitor its departure as the spacecraft is released through ground-controlled commands.

The ground controllers will use the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Dragon from the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module and manoeuvre the vehicle into its release position.

Dragon’s thrusters will fire to move the spacecraft a safe distance from the station before SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, command its de-orbit burn.