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On Wednesday, NASA announced that the upgraded SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft managed to splash at 8:26 p.m. EST west of Tampa, Florida. This successful water landing marked the end of the Company’s 21st cargo resupply mission to the ISS. The spacecraft has transported more than 4,400 pounds of science experiments and other cargo to Earth.
Upgrades to this particular Dragon spacecraft included doubled availability of motorized lockers compared to previous capsules, allowing for a significant increase in the number of research experiments returned to Earth for scientists. The mission was also notable for the speed with which the experiments from the capsule were carried out to scientists waiting in the field in Florida to begin their research.
NASA says some scientists saw their research come back within 4 to 9 hours of the splash. There have been several experiences aboard the spacecraft, including Cardinal Heart. This particular experiment investigated how microgravity causes changes in the workload and shape of the human heart. NASA says it’s still unclear whether these changes become permanent if a person lives more than a year in space.
Space Organogenesis was another experiment returned aboard the spacecraft and was an investigation conducted by JAXA to demonstrate the growth of 3D organ buds from human stem cells to analyze changes in gene expression in microgravity. One of the returned experiments was the sextant used in the Sextant navigation experiment aboard the ISS. Sailors used the sextant for navigation for centuries before modern navigation techniques were developed.
Rodent Research-23 was also part of the return experiments. He studied the function of arteries, veins, and lymphatic structures in the eye and changes in the retina of mice before and after space flight. Rodents were returned to Earth in this study. A number of additional experiences were returned to the mission.
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