After month-long stay at ISS, SpaceX Dragon splashes down in Pacific

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that launched from the Space Coast in December successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean Saturday morning, bringing an end to its International Space Station resupply mission.

"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing the second resupply mission to and from the space station with a flight-proven commercial spacecraft," SpaceX said via Twitter. That Dragon spacecraft previously visited the ISS in 2015.

Saturday's splashdown, which brought an end to SpaceX's 13th mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract, included a return of about 4,100 pounds of science experiments and cargo back to Earth. When the spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40 on Dec. 15, it carried more than 4,800 pounds of supplies and experiments – including Christmas gifts for the crew.

CRS-13 marked SpaceX's first-ever launch of a previously flown rocket and Dragon spacecraft in one mission, making it the "most reused" Falcon 9 to date. The rocket's booster also returned for a successful landing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Landing Zone 1 shortly after liftoff.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook at @EmreKelly.

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