Following a 36-day docking period at the International Space Station, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon safely descended into the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa, Florida.

Launched from orbit Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on March 21, the Cargo Dragon, C209, spent a total of 39 days in orbit.

The new Crew Access Tower at SLC-40, which enables quicker access to the Dragon and later cargo loading, was used for the first time on this trip to the Space Station.

On April 28, at 11:10 p.m. ET, the Cargo Dragon undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and moved independently away from the orbiting outpost to start its return journey to Earth. Abandoned shortly before the Cargo Dragon started its deorbit burn, explosive reentry through the atmosphere, and final smooth splashdown with its four main parachutes, was the trunk, which has power-generating solar panels and may accommodate extra cargo.

More over 4,000 pounds of experiments and other goods were brought back by the spacecraft from the Space Station. Helicopters were used to retrieve experiments that needed to be returned to Kennedy Space Center in a timely manner.

SpaceX salvage vessel Shannon was there to retrieve the capsule from the water and will return it to Port Canaveral for repairs prior to its next flight.

Now, this particular Cargo Dragon has made four trips to and from the Space Station. 140 days in total were spent in space.

After this Dragon departs, Crew 8 will disembark and board their own Dragon, Endeavour, to move it from Harmony’s forward port to its zenith port. This process should take around 45 minutes.

This will free up space for Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is scheduled to launch on May 6th and make its first crewed visit.