The Umbrella Corporation has its first successful mission. [View all]
Dragon splashes down in Pacific, ending historic mission
WASHINGTON -- A historic mission to the International Space Station ended with a splash at 11:42 a.m. today when an unmanned capsule built by SpaceX of California landed in the Pacific Ocean.
The return caps a 10-day trip in which SpaceX became the world's first company to berth a non-government spacecraft to the station -- delivering about a half-ton of supplies to the six-member crew in the process – and return it, laden with 1,367 pounds of used equipment and scientific experiments.
The capsule floated down under three red-and-white parachutes through a heavy cloud cover. It splashed down about 560 miles west of Baja California. A few minutes later, the parachutes separated from the spacecraft as recovery vessels and a NASA plane immediately headed for it.
Initial reaction at the company's mission control center in California was muted, even though video showed the Dragon capsule bobbing in the water. Rather than cheer, SpaceX founder Elon Musk was seen thumbing messages on a smart phone in the minutes following landing.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-31/news/os-spacex-mission-impact-20120601_1_dragon-capsule-spacex-unmanned-capsule
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