SpaceX’s Dragon Returns Valuable Research to Earth

Yesterday at 6:33 p.m. EST, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was released from the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station), sending it on its way back to Earth carrying valuable research to be returned to investigators on the ground. Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean this morning at 12:15 a.m. EST, marking the first nighttime splashdown and recovery of the spacecraft in which moonlight was used to track entry. This completes SpaceX’s 16th commercial resupply services mission, which delivered more than 5,600 pounds of science and supplies to the ISS in early December.

Several ISS National Lab investigations returned on Dragon, including the following:

• An investigation by the Michael J. Fox Foundation to crystallize LRRK2, a protein linked to the development of Parkinson’s disease
• Nalco Champion’s investigation on microbial biofilms that cause damaging corrosion
• Micro-gRx’s investigation testing lab-on-a-chip technology to study muscle wasting
• An investigation by Budweiser focused on malting barley in microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment.
• A University of California, Santa Barbara investigation funded by the National Science Foundation examining the interaction of sediment particles in water, with applications in ocean drilling, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem modeling
• An investigation from startup Cemsica aiming to improve the manufacture of artificial membranes that separate and capture carbon dioxide from gases released during energy production
• Guardians of the Galaxy Space Station Challenge student experiments from Team Rocket and Team Groot