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IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

Private SpaceX Capsule Brings Big Science to Space Station

• http://www.space.com, by Miriam Kramer
 Among the goods SpaceX's Dragon capsule transported to the station were science experiments primed and ready for the six international residents of the space station.
 
"Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth on March 25, bringing home nearly double the amount of supplies it brought up, about 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms)," NASA officials said in a statement. "Returning investigation samples will demonstrate how life in microgravity affects the growth of plant seedlings, changes to the human body, the behavior of semiconductors and detergents, and more."
 
  Some of the experiments will only stay on board for three weeks, making a round trip back to Earth with Dragon when the capsule detaches from the station. One of those experiments involves thale cress, a plant used in many experiments because of its small, relatively easy-to-map genome.
 
 
 
 


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