After spending a week in orbit, the SpaceX Dragon returned to Earth and was found floating in the Pacific near California. "Reentry scorch marks visible on the heat shield," notes SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who posted this shot of his private spaceship's return on Twitter. The return is "the last major hurdle for the groundbreaking spacecraft" privately built by Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Regarding the capsule, Huffington Post notes:

"SpaceX's Dragon capsule is rare in its ability to survive re-entry to Earth and be recovered. Most automated cargo vehicles that visit the space station, such as those built by Russia, Japan and Europe, are designed for one-way trips only, and are destroyed after their missions as they plunge through the planet's atmosphere.

"Dragon is equipped with a heat shield to withstand the fiery temperatures of re-entry, which can reach about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1650 degrees Celsius). That means it can deliver cargo both to and from the space station."

The Dragon is noteworthy for being the "first commercial mission to ferry supplies into space."