SpaceX Dragon home from ISS

A SpaceX Dragon capsule has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean hours after departing the International Space Station, bringing 3,100 pounds of science experiments and equipment down to Earth.

Slowed by parachutes, the unmanned capsule landed in the water at 12:42 p.m. Eastern time, about 155 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, SpaceX confirmed in a Twitter message.

The space station's 58-foot robotic arm released the Dragon from its grasp at 7:04 a.m. ET, as the two spacecraft flew 250 miles over southern Australia.

"It was a great vehicle," NASA Astronaut and Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts radioed to the ground. "We appreciated all the cargo."

The Dragon fired its thrusters just before noon to drop from orbit toward the splashdown zone.

The capsule spent 34 days at the ISS, where it berthed April 17, a few days after its April 14 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The mission was SpaceX's sixth under a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract originally valued at $1.6 billion for a dozen flights up and down. Several missions have since been added.

SpaceX is targeting launch of the contract's seventh resupply mission from the Cape at 11:09 a.m. on Friday, June 26.

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