SpaceX Dragon CRS-28 cargo ship undocks from ISS for return to Earth (video) (Image Credit: Space.com)
A robotic SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule left the International Space Station (ISS) today (June 29), beginning its trip back to Earth.
The Dragon undocked from the ISS today at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT), while the two spacecraft were flying over the northeastern Indian Ocean west of Indonesia.
The SpaceX capsule is now headed back to its home planet. It will make a parachute-aided splashdown off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida on Friday (June 30) at around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), NASA officials said today. The agency will not livestream the splashdown.
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The Dragon launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket on June 5. It arrived at the International Space Station a day later, delivering 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments to the astronauts aboard the orbiting lab.
The freighter’s current mission is called CRS-28, because it’s the 28th that SpaceX is flying under a series of Commercial Resupply Services contracts with NASA. The company also holds contracts to fly agency astronauts to and from the ISS, which it does with the crewed version of Dragon.
Dragon brought up a variety of science experiments and hardware on CRS-28, including the fifth and sixth International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs).
Spacewalking astronauts installed those two iROSAs this month, further augmenting the orbiting lab’s power output.
CRS-28’s Dragon is bringing more than 3,600 pounds (1,630 kg) of scientific gear and equipment back down to Earth with it, NASA officials said.
This is a unique capability of Dragon. The other two robotic freighters that currently fly cargo to the ISS — Russia’s Progress spacecraft and the privately built American vehicle Cygnus — burn up in Earth’s atmosphere when their missions are over.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:43 a.m. EDT on June 29 with news of successful undocking.
