Back on Earth the capsule "Dragon"

The capsule "Dragon", the first private spacecraft have docked with the International Space Station (ISS), fell into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday after a nine-day mission in space. "Dragon", manufactured by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), has landed about 900 kilometers off the coast of Baja California (Mexico) at 5:42 p.m. in Paris. She comes to the occupants of the ISS 544 kg of food and other supplies and set out again toward Earth with 590 kg of equipment. Saturday, the ISS astronauts had opened the hatch of communication with "Dragon" and float inside the capsule, a volume of 10 cubic meters, which had secured the day before to the ISS. Since the scrapping of the U.S. space shuttle last year, the NASA invests in private companies like SpaceX for its missions. A second ship, built by Orbital Sciences, is expected to take off this year. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences have signed contracts totaling 3.5 billion dollars (2.8 billion euros) with NASA to deliver cargo to the ISS. With this success, SpaceX should continue its contract with NASA for 12 flights transporting equipment to the ISS. The next test will be whether "Dragon" can bring in 48 hours of material from the ISS to NASA.