Cape Canaveral: An experimental humanoid known as Robonaut is back on Earth.

SpaceX tweeted that its Dragon capsule carrying Robonaut and other items from the International Space Station made a good splashdown in the Pacific on Saturday afternoon.

The capsule splashed down off the California coast.

Robonaut 2 robots in Houston. A Robonaut 2 has just returned to Earth for maintenance work. Credit:AP

It was the second of two space-related events Californians were treated to Saturday. In the early morning, NASA launched a Mars lander from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

In orbit for seven years, Robonaut needs a tune-up because of circuitry problems. NASA officials say Robonaut may launch again, once fixed.

In all, the Dragon returned nearly 1800 kilograms of space station experiments and equipment. The capsule had arrived at the space station with a fresh load of supplies a month ago.

AP