SpaceX Dragon Cargo Capsule had a successful Splashdown

On the 5th of June, a Dragon Cargo spacecraft designed, constructed and launched by SpaceX docked the International Space Station and supplied it with water, food and needed resources. On its way back to earth it carries some experiments and their results which will be evaluated on earth. Due to some weather issues, caused by the storm “Elsa” that was active near the landing zone, the Dragon Cargo spacecraft had to wait until every important parameter was under the limit.

The splashdown - successful landing after weather issues

When the Dragon cargo capsule successfully docked on the ISS on the 5th of June, it supplied the crew of the ISS with 3.311 kg of water, food and scientific experiments. After the spacecraft’s freight was unloaded, it was loaded with 2.300 kg of finished experiments and their results as well as other things that were no longer needed on the ISS. The results of these experiments should be evaluated in detail on earth. On the 8th of July, the Dragon Cargo Capsule undocked from the ISS to remove with its payload back to the earth. Originally the return of the spacecraft to earth was planned for the 6th of July, but near the set landing zone located in the Atlantic ocean, a storm called “Elsa” occurred with high waves and wind speed. These weather issues would be dangerous for the Dragon cargo capsule and could cause a mistakable splashdown. That's why the landing of the Dragon cargo capsule was postponed to the 8th of July. In the end, everything went well and the Dragon cargo capsule landed successfully with a splashdown.

The cargo - important experiments on board for evaluation on earth

When the Dragon cargo capsule left the ISS it had various finished experiments and their results on board. These experiments were projects that used the nearly zero gravity on the ISS to explore how some processes can be improved. One of the experiments, named Lyophilization-2 in Microgravity, quoted by NASA: “examines gravity’s effects on freeze-dried materials. Lyophilization, or freeze-drying, is a common method for formulating pharmaceuticals with improved chemical and physical stability”. These findings could support the development of new technologies regarding freezing technologies in the pharma industry. Another experiment, named Molecular Muscle Experiment 2 (MME-2), researches how drugs that are improving the energy efficiency of cells could maybe improve the health of astronauts in space. Another experiment called “Oral biofilms in Space”, quoted by NASA, “studies the effect of gravity on the behaviour of oral bacteria”. All these experiments could support the technological progress of mankind.

The meaning - what the successful splashdown means for SpaceX

The successful splashdown of the Dragon cargo spacecraft is a huge step for SpaceX to prove the quality and efficiency of their aerospace products especially facing the ability to reuse the capsules for further flights to the ISS. Although this is just the beginning of a journey that includes the automatisation of spacecraft and making them able to land successfully in the ocean. Also, this proves the sovereignty of SpaceX when it comes to reusable spacecraft. This gets especially visible at the low costs every start of a Dragon capsule has. In comparison to the start of an Ariane rocket, designed by the ESA, which costs around 600 million dollars, a launch of the SpaceX Dragon capsule costs just around 230 million dollars. Probably SpaceX will be able to decrease the costs in the future too, because of their own new technologies.

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