March 20, 2017 --In the age of same-day delivery, the International Space Station sent a package 249 miles down to Earth on Sunday in less than six hours. There was, however, one sizable difference between it and the cardboard box sitting on your front doorstep. The SpaceX capsule that splashed into the waters off California carried more than 5,000 pounds of completed science experiments and used equipment. The astronauts' release of the capsule down to Earth further shows the relationship between SpaceX and NASA to support life and science aboard the International Space Station. The private company has become a lifeline to the six astronauts living aboard the ISS, bringing them food, equipment, and experiments, and returning some of those materials to Earth.

The capsule left the station after being released by astronauts Thomas Pesquet (of France) and Shane Kimbrough (of NASA) using a robotic arm. It's equipped with a heat shield that allows cargo to be shipped back to Earth; the journey took five hours and it splashed down off the coast of Baha, California.