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Space
Space
Science
Brett Tingley

See Varda Space's private in-space manufacturing capsule's historic return to Earth in photos

A cone-shaped capsule lies on the desert floor with a parachute billowing in the wind above it.

A California startup's successful reentry and recovery of an in-space manufacturing capsule led to some gorgeous photography.

Varda Space Industries' W-1 mission ended on Wednesday (Feb. 21) with the landing and recovery of a capsule containing crystals of an anti-viral medication that were grown in orbit. The high-value drug, Ritonavir, is used to treat HIV and hepatitis C, and the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit offers a unique environment in which crystals of the medication can form "more perfect structures," according to Varda.

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