It was afternoon in California when the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft ended its CRS-8 (Cargo Resupply Service 8) mission for NASA splashing down without problems in the Pacific Ocean about 420 km (about 260 miles) off the coast of California. The Dragon left the International Space Station a few hours before, when in California it was morning.

Shortly after landing, the SpaceX Dragon boats went to retrieve it to transport it to the coast. The cargo brought back to Earth will be delivered to NASA soon, probably tomorrow. The Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station on April 10, 2016.

The Dragon spacecraft brought back to Earth nearly 1,700 kg (about 3,700 lbs) of mixed cargo that include various scientific experiments and biological samples. Part of the samples are contained in the freezers because they need to keep them at low temperatures. Some experiments were devised by non-profit organizations working with NASA in scientific and educational programs.

Orbital ATK had already resumed its resupply missions to the International Space Station but its Cygnus spacecraft gets destroyed on its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. For a few weeks Cygnus and Dragon remained docked at a short distance with the result that the Canadarm2 robotic arm which moved the Dragon to its departure position had to make a more complex maneuver than usual.

SpaceX is the only American company to have a spaceship able to bring back to Earth intact cargo so the Dragon missions are really important for NASA. In this case, there are many technological and biological experiments that include for example samples taken from Scott Kelly in the course of his one-year mission.

The next resupply mission for the Dragon cargo spacecraft could begin as early as the end of June, although the launch dates are always approximate. For the moment they have to verify that the samples and experiments have returned to Earth undamaged. For SpaceX a complete success of its CRS-8 mission is really important: despite the results achieved in recent months with its controlled landings, the collaboration with NASA remains crucial to its activities.

NASA created a video that summarizes the steps of the Dragon spacecraft’s departure from the International Space Station.