Posted: Wed, Mar 27, 2013, 7:07 AM ET (1107 GMT)
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft departed from the International Space Station on Tuesday, splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean several hours later. The station's robotic arm unberthed the Dragon spacecraft from the station early Tuesday, releasing it at 6:56 am EDT (1056 GMT). Dragon maneuvered away from the station and reentered a few hours later, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean a few hundred kilometers off the Baja California coast at 12:36 pm EDT (1636 GMT). Dragon brought back to Earth 1,210 kilograms of experiments and equipment from the station. Dragon launched to the station on March 1, berthing two days later after overcoming a problem with the spacecraft's thrusters. This mission was the second of 12 cargo flights to the station by SpaceX under a contract with NASA, with the third planned for later this year.
