SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth on Saturday after a month-long supply mission at the International Space Station, NBC News reports. The unmanned capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 300 miles west of Baja, California, carrying over 3,000 pounds of returned gear and experiments, according to CNN.

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The gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule blasted off on September 21st aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NBC News Reports. The spacecraft was carrying over 5,000 pounds of supplies, including food, equipment, a 3-D printer and 20 live mice that are being used a medical experiment.

The Rodent Research-1 project seeks to assess how microgravity affects animals and will provide information on human spaceflight. This is the first time that live mammals have been transported via the capsule. They were transported in a NASA-made research cage that allows researchers to study the effects of weightlessness on their bones and muscles. A 3-D printer was also set up in the Dragon to test whether needed parts could be created efficiently in zero gravity.

"This mission enabled research critical to achieving NASA's goal of long-duration human spaceflight in deep space," said Sam Scimemi, director of the International Space Station division at NASA Headquarters.

The capsule will be hauled to Los Angeles and unpacked.

This is the Dragon capsule’s fourth of 12 SpaceX supply missions planned through 2016. The next launch will be after December 1. SpaceX is a commercial company that is contracted with NASA to supply the ISS since the retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2011. The Dragon Capsule is currently the only spacecraft that can return from the ISS with cargo, according to the Economic Times.

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