A SpaceX Dragon capsule returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean around 3 P.M. EDT on Wednesday, after docking at the International Space Station for a month, carrying 3,700 pounds worth of precious scientific haul of experiments and research.

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British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency said to mission controllers in Houston that the Dragon Spacecraft has served them well, releasing the Dragon into space using the space station's robotic arm around 9:19 A.M. He adds, it is good to see it departing full of science, where the crew wished it a safe journey and recovery back to planet Earth.

Inside the 1,300 pound worth of experiments are more than 1,000 vials of blood, urine and saliva from NASA astronaut Scott Kelly when he spent almost  a year aboard the the orbiting space laboratory, that ended last March. NASA scientists will now study and analyze these biological samples to further study the long term effects of a zero gravity environment on the human body. In another study, Kelly's physical results will also be compared to his twin brother's, Mark Kelly, back on Earth.

Inside the Dragon are also protein crystal experiments that can further develop better design for cancer treatments. NASA engineers will also be able to investigate a spacesuit used last January when a spacewalk was immediately halted due to a water bubble forming inside the helmet of astronaut Tim Kopra. Even if Kopra was safe from the incident, this spacesuit issue has not yet been resolved by NASA since this is not the first time that water leaking in spacesuits occurred.

This cargo resupply mission is also Dragons' first mission in a year, after a cargo resupply mission failed last June, as the Falcon 9 rocket exploded. The Dragon capsule is crucial for station operations as no other spacecraft can carry and return that massive amount of cargo back to Earth.

This Dragon Capsule was launched last April 8 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where SpaceX also successfully landed back its Falcon 9 booster on a floating droneship on the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever.

Two days later, the Dragon successfully docked at the ISS with 7,000 pounds of cargo including an inflatable space habitat known as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, which is a prototype developed by Bigelow Aerospace which will be inflated later this month.

Before re-entering the planet's atmosphere Wednesday morning, the Dragon capsule orbited the planet three times before firing again its thrusters as it began to drop from orbit around 2 P.M. Splashdown occurred at 2:52 P.M. some 260 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, as boats are expected to return the capsule to the shore within one day.

TagsSpaceX, dragon capsule, ISS, spacex cargo mission ISS, International Space Station, NASA