SpaceX to Launch Dragon Resupply Mission (CRS-16) Sunday

Packed with about two tons of cargo and science, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft departed the International Space Station on Sunday, January 13. A parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean occurred at about 9:10 p.m. PST, just west of Baja California. That same evening, a recovery team secured Dragon on a boat for the return trip to the Port of Los Angeles, wrapping up SpaceX’s 16th resupply mission to the space station.

Filled with more than 5,600 pounds of supplies and payloads, Dragon launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on December 5, 2018 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, and arrived at the space station on December 8. The Dragon spacecraft flown on this mission previously visited the space station during SpaceX’s CRS-10 mission in February 2017. Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.