SpaceX Dragon demo capsule returns to Earth

America’s new commercial astronaut capsule completed its demonstration flight on Friday with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

The SpaceX Dragon vehicle left the International Space Station (ISS) where it had been docked this past week and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

It had a heat shield to protect it from the high temperatures of re-entry.

Four parachutes brought it into soft contact with water about 450km from Cape Canaveral, Florida.