CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The coming week is another big one for SpaceX, whose unmanned Dragon capsule is scheduled to depart the International Space Station and return to Earth Wednesday morning.
News 6 partner Florida Today reports the station’s 58-foot robotic arm is expected to release the Dragon and its 3,700 pounds of cargo at 9:18 a.m., beginning a less than six-hour journey culminating in a Pacific Ocean splashdown under parachutes.
Because of a failed launch last summer, this Dragon will be the first to return science experiments and hardware from the ISS in a year. No other spacecraft flying today can bring large quantities of cargo back down to the ground.
Among this mission’s precious cargo are biological samples collected during former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s yearlong mission on the station that ended in March.
The Dragon is returning almost exactly one month after its April 10 arrival at the station, two days after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
If splashdown conditions are unfavorable Wednesday, the Dragon's departure could be delayed a few days.