After completing a resupply mission to the International Space Station, an unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida, according to NASA (ISS).
According to Space.com, the Dragon CRS-24 cargo ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 24 around 4:05 p.m. EST off the coast of Florida near Panama City.
"Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX's 24th resupply mission to the space station," SpaceX wrote in a Twitter update.
Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 24th resupply mission to the @space_station!
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 24, 2022
NASA: SpaceX Dragon Successfully Arrives on Florida
NASA said the Dragon, carrying scientific equipment and blood samples from the ISS crew, undocked from the orbiting station on Sunday.
According to the space agency, the SpaceX cargo ship returned more than 2,200 kilograms (almost 5,000 pounds) of research to Earth. Some items include "cytoskeleton" that investigates cell signaling in humans and a 12-year-old light imaging microscope that had been deactivated after more than a decade in orbit.
The crew delivered the blood samples, which included US astronauts Kayla Barron and Thomas Marshburn, as well as German astronaut Matthias Maurer, as part of medical tests investigating the effects of long-term space flight on people's eyesight.
PANAMA CITY, FL. - MAY 02: In this NASA handout, Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Victor Glover, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi aboard in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, May 2, 2021, off the coast of Panama City, Florida.
Those tests, as well as others, will be transported to scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to a statement from SpaceX.
The Dragon spacecraft was supposed to return to Earth on Friday. Still, NASA had to postpone the mission due to poor weather in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket delivered hardware, research materials, and supplies to the astronauts on the International Space Station.
NASA's First Tourist Trip to Space Postponed
Meanwhile, NASA's first tourist trip to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed, according to TweakTown.
Axiom Space's Ax-1 mission, the first private astronaut flight to the International Space Station, will have a revised launch date. Originally, Axiom Space intended to launch three amateur astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) around February, but NASA and Axiom are now aiming for the end of March.
Ax-1, the first ever private astronaut mission to the @Space_Station, is now targeting a March 31 launch due to additional spacecraft preparations & space station traffic. The multinational crew will conduct science, outreach, & commercial activities during their 8 days on ISS. pic.twitter.com/s9qsnS7gE8
— Axiom Space (@Axiom_Space) January 20, 2022
The private mission is part of NASA's and Roscosmos' efforts to market the International Space Station to raise finances while also boosting access to space for private persons, albeit the extremely affluent.
According to Digital Trends, the reason for the delay is "extra spacecraft preparations and space station traffic," implying that there will be another spacecraft flying to the ISS towards the end of February, producing "traffic."
Mark Pathy, a Canadian financier and philanthropist, Larry Connor, an American entrepreneur, and Eytan Stibbe, a former Israeli Air Force pilot, will be among the three amateur astronauts who will go to the International Space Station.
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