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The third operational mission that Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) carried out on behalf of NASA was launched on April 18, 2014 at 3:25 p.m. EDT (19:25 GMT). The mission, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) located in Florida. The mission marked the fifth Dragon spacecraft that the Hawthorne, California-based launched. This flight also marked the first time that SpaceX attempted an ocean landing of the rocket’s first stage. An estimated 4,605 lbs (2,089 kilograms) worth of cargo, crew supplies and experiments were ferried to the orbiting laboratory on this mission with 3,500 lbs (1,600 kilograms) of downmass cargo returned to Earth. Photos courtesy: Michael Howard, John Studwell, Carleton Bailie, Jared Haworth
