<p> The history-making Dragon spacecraft is back on earth.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The unmanned cargo ship parachuted into the Pacific on Thursday, six hours after leaving the International Space Station. It brought back nearly 1,400 pounds of old gear.<br />The private SpaceX vessel is the first to return such a load since Nasa’s shuttles retired last year.<br /><br />SpaceX guided the Dragon’s descent through the atmosphere and splashdown off the coast of Mexico. A fleet of boats was in position, ready to receive the world’s first commercial craft to resupply the space station.<br /><br />It will take a few days to transport the capsule by barge to Los Angeles. From there, it will be trucked to the SpaceX rocket factory in Texas for unloading and inspection.<br /><br />SpaceX’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk of PayPal fame, expects to have astronauts riding his Dragons in three or four years. Until then, the focus is on filling the space station’s larder.<br /></p>
<p> The history-making Dragon spacecraft is back on earth.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The unmanned cargo ship parachuted into the Pacific on Thursday, six hours after leaving the International Space Station. It brought back nearly 1,400 pounds of old gear.<br />The private SpaceX vessel is the first to return such a load since Nasa’s shuttles retired last year.<br /><br />SpaceX guided the Dragon’s descent through the atmosphere and splashdown off the coast of Mexico. A fleet of boats was in position, ready to receive the world’s first commercial craft to resupply the space station.<br /><br />It will take a few days to transport the capsule by barge to Los Angeles. From there, it will be trucked to the SpaceX rocket factory in Texas for unloading and inspection.<br /><br />SpaceX’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk of PayPal fame, expects to have astronauts riding his Dragons in three or four years. Until then, the focus is on filling the space station’s larder.<br /></p>