A SpaceX Dragon capsule has returned from the International Space Station ( ISS ) with anunusual crew – one composed of mouse rather than human being .
Dragon splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 10.14am EST ( 2.14pm GMT ) on Sunday , September 17 , having set up to the place on August 14 . Dragon is currently the only fomite that can return cargo from the ISS to Earth .
The spacecraft is often used to transmit experiments and other equipment back to our satellite . This time around it carried mouse fromNASA ’s Rodent Research-9 study , which has been look at how microgravity affects mice . Often mice on the ISS are euthanized after experiments , so it ’s nice that these ones managed to come home .
The purpose of these mouse experiment is to prepare for human missions to Mars . By studying how microgravity affects blood vessels in the brain and eyes , we can discover out how the vision of astronaut might be affected on long - continuance missionary station to Mars . These could have travel sentence of about eight month . Rodent Research-9 also looked at the consequence of lightness on tissue paper degeneration in hip and knee joints .
" The change we see during this rodent research experimentation will allow for us to better prepare our astronauts for long - full term vulnerability to low - solemnity environments , ” Kevin Sato , project scientist for the space biological science task at NASA ’s Ames Research Center in California , said in astatement .
Itwasn’t justcute little mousetronauts that Dragon returned from the ISS . On display board was also a lung tissue experimentation , used to test strategies for growing new lung tissue . And there was also an experiment to grow an important protein entail in Parkinson ’s disease .
In full , about 1,700 kilograms ( 3,750 British pound ) of cargo was returned to Earth from the ISS . It took Dragon about 5.5 hour to get back to Earth after leaving the ISS . It was recall by a recovery ship just off the sea-coast of California .
This was the twelfth Dragon cargo mission to the ISS by SpaceX. The company is going to be in the news program quite a bit in the add up month , with a be after launch of its new heavy - raising garden rocket – the Falcon Heavy – schedule for later this year , and an inaugural launching of its manned Crew Dragon space vehicle expected in summer 2018 .
